Fanuc LR Mate - Is it a good practice to move a Robot by hand instead of Teach Pendan

Join Date
Aug 2016
Location
Virginia
Posts
343
Good Evening ,

We have a Fanuc LR Mate . Our operators have the habit of grabbing hold of the robot to clear a crash , or find the witness marks . Is it a good practice to move it by hand or use the teach pendant ?

Thanks so much in advance .
 
I'm not sure what an "LR Mate" is, however I've worked around a lot of robots in various applications, and I've never seen a robot tech, engineer, programmer, maintenance personnel or anyone move one by hand. Maybe I've just missed it. I've always seen the teach pendant used.
 
Not familiar with that model of fanuc but physically overriding the motor brakes isn't a good idea.

A while back when I had S-500's, a maint tech arm wrested one and I had to come in in the middle of the night to tell it that that new position it powered up at was okay. I'm surprised your robot isn't throwing alarms and refusing to run.
 
The only way you're able to move the robot by asserting pressure by hand is if its a collaborative model. And having recently completed a project using a collabrative LRMate, it is capable of that. The Nachi collaborative model is also capable of that function. And it is considered "safe". Now, is it the best way? It would depend on the application.
 
If this is a yellow robot and they are moving it by hand (overpowering the motor breaks), then this is not acceptable. They are going to damage the robot. They need to be told to never do this again.
 
If this is a yellow robot and they are moving it by hand (overpowering the motor breaks), then this is not acceptable. They are going to damage the robot. They need to be told to never do this again.

If it is yellow and they are able to move the robot by hand without using the brake release box, then there is a much bigger problem here - time for a new robot or get this one refurbished.
 
I have no experience with Fanuc robots but a quick google search shows they are of a 5 or 6 axis style robot.

If you can touch the robot when there is power applied and there is a chance the robot can execute its program then this is a very poor design of safety robot cell and needs immediate rectification.

The 6 axis robots I have worked with (Kuka, Epson, Staubli) all needed to be moved by teach pendant/HMI after a crash. You should not over-ride the brakes as stated above.

With the exception of maintenance activities which of course should then be carried out by skilled, competent persons. The epson robot controller as an example has a D-Sub connector on the back, which you can inject 24V in to to release the brakes, I have had to use this when changing the servo on one axis for accessibility.

SCARA robots on the other hand, these can be pushed whilst the cell is in a safe state (i.e. a Castell or similar key is removed before entering the cell and stays on the person within the cell). The Staubli/Bosch-Rexroth SCARA's come included with a button on top to release the 4th (Z) axis, this can be used both to clear after a crash and for teaching (move by hand and then enter "here" on the pendant).

TLDR: No.
 
Last edited:
I used to work with Fanuc Arcmate welding robots and the joints have brakes. Maybe just the weight bearing joints had them so you couldn't move them. Maybe the smaller joints or non weight bearing joints could be moved. The pulse coders are battery backed so if you power it off and remove the batteries, you have to re-master the robot, which I have had to do. I would recommend not moving it by hand.
 
We have bunch of those robots in our plant and the end efector part axis 6 moves easily by hand but i am asking not to do it whenever i see someone doing it. I went through robot training and those robot that have timing belt could easily skip the tooth on the sprocket which then pick and place positions might be effected. Not recomended got fanuc LR mate robots.
 
you should NEVER get into a live robot work cell when its hung or faulted !
if you grab the robot with your hand and clear it, it could take off and continue on its movement / cycle. who knows what it will do.

I know of a technician working on a robot and accidently triggered the cycle and it crushed him against a wall column before anything could be done.

let's work safely and use the pendent.
note - I design the systems and never programmed them. I do see them in action a lot. these units move 100+ lbs and move at impressive speed to keep up production.

james
 

Similar Topics

Hi All, I want to calculate what the value should be for parameter 1828 for my power mate D controller. The manual states: Setting value =...
Replies
1
Views
2,208
I have a Fanuc 90-30 running a shear. The panelmate Board went bad and was replaced. I got the panelmate running but the Fanuc sends bad data to...
Replies
9
Views
1,930
Hello I have Fanuc Arc Mate Sr Robot and want to send and receive data to a Pc. There is a serial port and I have connect it with my Pc. The...
Replies
26
Views
4,346
Gentlemen, I am bringing a Fanuc PowerMate H back from the dead. The original motherboard fried, and we lost every parameter within the...
Replies
10
Views
4,022
Has anyone here ever used a barcode scanner to set a string register for program selection on a fanuc arm? Normally I would connect the scanner to...
Replies
0
Views
1,801
Back
Top Bottom