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Introduction
This guide contains relevant information for users of Process Simulate interested is using the RapidPlan plug-in offered by Realtime Robotics with Siemens Process Simulate.
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Pairing Tecnomatix Process Simulate provided by Siemens with RTR’s RapidPlan will provide users the ability to generate collision-free paths generated by RapidPlan that can be simulated and recorded in Process Simulate and later deployed to the robots on the shop floor. This further eases customers' pain points when deploying industrial robots by enhancing productivity and maximizing the benefits of robotics with the click of a button.
Deploying Realtime Robotics for Tecnomatix Process Simulate 2209
Windows 11 Installation
RTR’s RapidPlan software is built for a Linux operating system environment, and specifically Ubuntu version 20.04LTS. Running on a Windows system requires Windows 11 with Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL2) running a distribution of Ubuntu 20.04LTS.
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For more details on installation, please refer to the README.txt provided with the Realtime Robotics plugin for Tecnomatix Process Simulate 2209.
Ubuntu 20.04 Installation
To run RTR’s RapidPlan software in your Linux environment, you can cd into the directory containing install.sh and run the file from the terminal:
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For more details on installation, please refer to the README.txt provided with the Realtime Robotics plugin for Tecnomatix Process Simulate 2209.
Best practices
This section contains recommendations, tips, and best practices when using the Realtime Robotics integration in Tecnomatix Process Simulate provided by Siemens
Exporting the data to Realtime Robotics
Preparing the data before sending to Realtime Robotics
3D data
Hide unnecessary objects for motion planning.
RTR’s RapidPlan will perform motion planning using the objects that are currently visible. To speed up the process, hide any object that is either out of reach of the robots or that is not relevant for the motion planning. After RapidPlan starts the calculations, the objects can be displayed again
Set objects in the proper pose (jig, turntable, part,…).
When performing motion planning, RTR’s RapidPlan will consider the objects in the positions that they are when the calculation is triggered. Therefore, make sure that objects are in the right pose and in the right spot.
Optional: We recommend setting a working frame close to the cell that is sent to RTR’s RapidPlan. This will allow users to troubleshoot the cell operation in the Realtime Robotics tools, if necessary. Not setting the working frame has no impact in the motion planning results.
Paths
Each path must contain a start & finish pose (i.e., Home or Pounce) and all relative process points within the process. IMPORTANT – RapidPlan simulation will only work with the actual path selected during the conversion stage, not a copy. Therefore, creating a sequence you can run to view results reduces the need to move paths around per scenario and is easier to select at the export and simulation stages.
Teach a valid configuration for all locations. TIP: use Auto teach
It is expected that process points have a taught configuration. RTR’s RapidPlan will find optimal paths between the process points but will not try to optimize the configuration at each process point. If you are interested in optimization capabilities (robot positioning, process point configuration, process point allocation, process point sequencing,…) contact Realtime Robotics for additional information about RapidPlan Optimize at support.rtr.ai.
Teach the approach opening for the weld guns to a reasonable value. This is the value that RTR’s RapidPlan will use, closing/opening the gun on the way to reach the desired opening at the location. Note: selecting a value where the gun is almost closed may cause motion planning to fail. We recommend to select a value so that the robot can move out of the location without having to change the gun opening significantly.
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Set the following collision sets.
If no collision sets are created in Siemens PS, RTR’s RapidPlan will consider collisions between all objects with a near miss of 0.1mm, which is usually not desired by users. Process Simulate will analyze all process points before exporting to ensure they are collision-free (and near-miss free) with the configured collision sets. We recommend the following collision-sets
Robot to robot collision sets -> at least 50mm
Robots to objects relevant for collision checking -> at least 0.1mm
Any other collision sets desired by the user (optional)
Inspect your locations for process points on tight locations.
RTR’s algorithms work well when the robot has several degrees of freedom to plan but does not currently perform well when the robot must plan to a tight location. Users can easily spot tight locations – these are locations where the path to free the robot is restricted to one direction, or to a specific set of motions. Sending these process points without adding via locations may cause the algorithm to fail. Examples of tight locations are:
Welding gun going through a narrow passage
Welding inside holes
Add via locations for complicated process points. To prevent the algorithm from failing, users can add via locations from the tight locations on the way out. Usually, 1-2 via locations are enough. Once the robot has more freedom to move, motion planning will have higher chances to succeed.
Sending the data to Realtime Robotics for motion planning.
Open the Export to Realtime Robotics tool and select the paths that require collision checking.
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| Note |
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Closing Process Simulate will cause the Realtime Robotics results message not to display. In this case, the user must open the RTR RapidPlan Control webapp to check the status and the project generation results. Due to network communication disruptions, Process Simulate may lose contact with the RapidPlan background process, throwing an error message pointing to an “unknown” cause. In this case, please check the status on the RTR RapidPlan Control UI, since the motion planning generation process may still be running. |
Previewing the results
Once the results are available, they can be previewed in Process Simulate. The steps to do so are:
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When simulating, the simulation time displayed is higher that it would be when simulating with a virtual controller, sometimes up to 2 times . For determining an accurate simulation time, perform a path recording with Realtime and run the results with a virtual controller (RRS, RCS)
Recording the paths from Realtime Robotics
The preview allows the user to visualize the results, but does not store any via location in Process Simulate. To do so, the user needs to perform a path recording using the “Realtime Robotics Path Recorder”. There are the steps to use the path recorder:
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After the simulation finishes, the via locations that were used during simulation will be saved in a copy of the path.
Realtime Robotics' RapidPlan Control
RTR’s RapidPlan Control, which is in charge of the motion planning and collision avoidance operation of the robot, also has a web-based user interface.
Most of the time, you do not need to interact with the RapidPlan Control webapp to use the Realtime Robotics plug-in with Process Simulate. But sometimes you might need to leverage RapidPlan Control as a visual troubleshooting aid for certain functions, such as changing a target in RapidPlan as an alternate location in events when multi-move command fails.
Using RapidPlan Control
Once the Realtime Robotics project file has been successfully exported by Process Simulate and installed on the RapidPlan Control, open up a web browser and type in localhost to access the RapidPlan Control webapp. Here you will see the project file in the Project list.
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Please refer to the RapidPlan Control Layout section of the RapidPlan User Reference Manual for more information on how to navigate the interface and use its functions: RapidPlan Control 2.1
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Known Limitations
RapidPlan 2.1 does not support v10.6 and beyond JT files
Weld guns with joint dependencies that have no limits is not supported
RapidPlan 2.1 integration also has some limitations on joint dependencies, such as those used in the kinematics of a weld gun. A list on unsupported functions can be found in the Appendix.
There are cases when PS can report collision while RTR may not have any collisions. Refer to FAQ for resolution.
Communication between Process Simulate and Realtime is one-way (i.e. moving the robot from Process Simulate will reflect in Realtime Control webapp, but not the other way around)
Exporting project relative to the factory origin instead of the workcell origin hangs the YamlConverter process to create RapidPlan project from Process Simulate studies. Additionally, setting the working frame >500m may have a negative impact on the motion planning results. Advise to add a working frame close to the cell.
RapidPlan 2.1 integration does not support robots with 7-axis and following joint with no variable limits
Exporting fails from Process Simulate for studies involving appearances/objects without geometries.
For limitations on the Process Simulate side, please refer to the Tecnomatix Process Simulate 2209 documentation.
Licensing
The license for RapidPlan will be included as part of the licensing package you purchased from Siemens which treats RapidPlan as a plug-in. This can be in the form of a license file or server license.
Please refer to the Tecnomatix Process Simulate document for licensing information.
FAQ
How does RTR ensure that the motion created is accurate to the real robot’s path?
If RTR is controlling the robot at runtime, we command it at a fine interpolation interval and monitor its progress. PS verifies if TCP path recordings that RTR generates are the same as RCS module path.
Does RTR reorder the weld sequence in order to either improve inter collisions or cycle time?
Order of weld sequence is defined by user through PS. RTR doesn't know or operate this order/sequence anyhow. What RTR does is it finds the shortest path between targets in the sequence that is given by PS. We do not currently optimize the weld sequence however the user can quickly iterate over different sequences and observe the effect on cycle time.
How fast is the process of “auto creating” via’s?
It depends on many factors: how many targets needs to be connected, what complexity of the targets (are they in tight location? are they close to obstacles? etc.), CAD objects size, hardware capabilities, etc.
When doing the path creation does RTR adjust the robot rounding?
We don't currently support smoothing in PS. If RTR is used at runtime, a smoothing value can be specified and controller will make sure the motion is still collision-free.
Does RTR generate interlock report in Process Simulate?
Not currently but is in the roadmap. Contact your sales representative for more information.
We need to re-export after every little change in the cell, does RTR plan to address this?
We are working on the implementation of incremental export function which will avoid long waiting time when making major changes.
PS reports collision but RTR does not report collision. What to do in such a situation?
This could happen because of wireframe entities. You can do so within Process Simulate by removing the check for “Ignore wireframe entities” box under Options>Collision.
Glossary
This section provides an overview of certain Realtime Robotics’ RapidPlan terminologies you may need to be familiar with while using RapidPlan software with Tecnomatix Process Simulate 2209. For more Realtime-specific terms, please refer to our Glossary section of the User Manual: RapidPlan 2.1 Glossary of Terms
Appliance
Appliance takes operations exported from Process Simulate to plan and execute robot motions that ensure there are no collisions between robots.
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Format of the project that is generated by the export process from Process Simulate.
Appendix
List of joint dependency functionalities not supported with RTR RapidPlan in 2.1:
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