Detecting collisions

Overview

With RobotStudio you can detect and log collisions between objects in the station.

The basic concepts of collision detection are explained below.

Collision sets

A collision set contains two groups, Objects A and Objects B, in which you place the objects to detect any collisions between them. When any object in Objects A collides with any object in Objects B, the collision is displayed in the graphical view and logged in the output window. You can have several collision sets in the station, but each collision set can only contain two groups.

A common use of collision sets is to create one collision set for each robot in the station. For each collision set you then put the robot and its tool in one group and all objects you do not want it to collide with in the other. If a robot has several tools, or holds other objects, you can either add these to the robot’s group as well or create specific collision sets for these setups.

Each collision set can be activated and deactivated separately.

Collisions and near-misses

In addition to collisions, the collision detection can also watch for near-misses, which is when an object in Objects A comes within a specified distance from an object in Objects B.

Recommendations for collision detection

In general, the following principles are recommended to facilitate collision detection:

• Simplify and defeature your models by removing everything that is not necessary for simulation purposes.

• Use as small collision sets as possible, splitting large parts and collecting in the collision sets only relevant parts.

• Enable coarse detail level when importing geometry.

• Limit the use of near-miss.

• Enable last collision detection, if the results are acceptable.

Results of creating a collision set

After you have created a collision set, seeCreate Collision Set on page 318, RobotStudio will check the positions of all objects and detect when any object in ObjectsA collides with any object in ObjectsB.

Activation of detection and displayal of collisions depend on how the collision detection is set up.

If the collision set is active, RobotStudio will check the positions of the objects in the groups, and indicate any collision between them according to the current color settings.

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4.2 Detecting collisions

Collision detection

Collision detection checks whether robots or other moving parts collide with equipment in the station. In complex stations, you can use several collision sets for detecting collisions between several groups of objects.

After collision detection has been set up, it does not need to be started, but automatically detects collisions according to the setup.

Setting when to check for collisions

To set whether to detect collisions always or only during simulation, follow these steps:

1 On the File menu, click Options.

2 On the Navigation pane to the left, select Simulation: Collision.

3 On the Collision page to the right, select one of the following options from the Perform collision detection:

Description Option

Collision detection is active only during simulation (when running RAPID programs in the virtual controller).

During simulation

Collision detection is always active, even when moving objects manually or testing reachability.

Always

Setting the objects for collision detection

To set the objects for collision detection, follow these steps:

1 Make sure that the objects for collision detection are placed correctly in collision sets.

2 Make sure that the collision set for the objects is activated, which is indicated by an icon in the Layout browser:

Description Icon

Active. Collisions between objects in this set will be detected.

xx050033

Not active. Collisions between objects in this set will not be detected.

xx050007

To activate or deactivate collision sets, continue with the following steps:

3 Right-click the collision set to change and then click Modify Collision set to bring up a dialog box.

4 Select or clear the Active check box and then click Apply.

Setting near-miss detection

Near-misses occur when objects in collision sets are close to colliding. Each collision set has its own near-miss settings. For setting near-miss detection, follow these steps:

1 In the Layout browser, right-click the collision set to change and then click Modify Collision set to bring up a dialog box.

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2 In the Near miss box, specify the maximum distance between the objects to be considered a near-miss and then click Apply.

Setting logging options

In addition to the graphical display of collisions, you can also log the collisions to the output window or a separate log file:

1 On the File menu, click Options.and under Simulation, click Collision.

2 On the Navigation pane to the left, select Simulation: Collision.

3 On the Collision page to the right, select Log collisions to Output window check box.

The collision log is displayed in the output window.

4 On the Collision page to the right, select Log collisions to file check box and enter the name and path to the log file in the box.

A separate file for logging collisions is created below the check box.

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