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Lesson 1: Introduction to the Teach Pendant

Lesson 1: Introduction to the Teach Pendant

In the previous Unit, you explored manually moving the 6-Axis Robotic Arm along the x, y, and z-axes. You learned to use the Teach Pendant in VEXcode EXP to enable manual movement and gather (x, y, z) coordinates.

In this Lesson, you will learn more about the Teach Pendant, including: 

  • How teach pendants are used in industrial robotics.
  • Key features of the Teach Pendant in VEXcode EXP.
  • How to jog the 6-Axis Arm using the Teach Pendant.

By the end of this Lesson, you will be able to use the Teach Pendant to move the 6-Axis Arm incrementally along the x, y, and z-axes.

The Teach Pendant in VEXcode EXP. There are three main sections of the Teach Pendant, stacked vertically. The first section is called the dashboard and has has three lines. The top line has two buttons. The button on the left says, 'Move to Safe Position'. The button on the right says, 'Enable Manual Mode'. The next line reads: Status: Ready. The bottom line shows the x,y, and z coordinates of the arm and reads, x 120mm, y 2mm, z 99mm. The middle section of the Teach Pendant has two sections. The top section is titled, 'Arm Jogging' and has two rows of buttons. The buttons in the first row are, +x, +y. +z from left to right. The buttons in the second row are, -x, -y, -z from left to right. A Jogging Increment section is underneath, and includes buttons from left to right reading, 1 mm, 5 mm, 10 mm, 25mm, 50mm. The bottom section of the Teach Pendant has the heading Move to. There are three boxes where coordinates can be entered. They read, x: 200 mm, y: 0 mm, z: 200 mm. Underneath these boxes is a button labeled Move to Position.

 

The Teach Pendant in VEXcode EXP

The Teach Pendant in VEXcode EXP has many useful features you can use to control the 6-Axis Arm. This Lesson will focus on features you will use in this Unit.

What is a teach pendant? 

A teach pendant is a commonly used device in industrial robotics that allows a user to control a robotic arm remotely and manually. Teach pendants can be used to execute a series of movements and to test and refine them so they are precise. It allows a user to monitor the robot in real time, troubleshoot issues as they arise, and play a crucial safety role by enabling the user to work with the robot from a distance.

A Teach Pendant in factory being held by a worker. 2 robotic arms are in the background, manipulating products.

Teach Pendant Dashboard

The x, y, z-coordinates of the 6-Axis Arm can be seen in real time on the Teach Pendant Dashboard. You used this feature when gathering coordinates of specific Tile numbers in the previous Unit.

The teach pendant dashboard with a red box around the x, y, z coordinate values.

The Dashboard will remain in place at the top of the Teach Pendant at all times, even while scrolling to use other features of the Teach Pendant, as shown in this video.

Arm Jogging

The Teach Pendant allows you to move the 6-Axis Arm along the x, y, and z-axes in small increments. This is called jogging.

You can also change the increment of movement when jogging.

You will learn more about jogging later in this Lesson.

The Arm Jogging section of the Teach Pendant. The buttons in the first row are, +x, +y. +z from left to right. The buttons in the second row are, -x, -y, -z from left to right. A Jogging Increment section is underneath, and includes buttons from left to right reading, 1 mm, 5 mm, 10 mm, 25mm, 50mm.

Magnet 

The Teach Pendant also provides buttons that can be used to engage and release the Magnet.

You will use these buttons in Lesson 2 of this Unit to pick up and move Disks with the 6-Axis Arm.

The magnet buttons on the Teach Pendant. The left button reads, 'Engage'. The right button reads, 'Release'.

Jogging the 6-Axis Arm Using the Teach Pendant

Jogging can be used to move the 6-Axis Arm incrementally from one position to another. This is useful when you want to slightly change the position of the 6-Axis Arm. This can allow you to position the 6-Axis Arm more precisely. 

You can move the 6-Axis Arm along one of the three axes by selecting the associated axis buttons from the Teach Pendant. View this video to see an example of the 6-Axis Arm jogging with the Teach Pendant. In the video, the positive and negative buttons for each axis are pressed. The 6-Axis Arm moves away from the base when the positive buttons are pressed, and and then back towards the base when the negative buttons are pressed on each axis.

Select Move to Safe Position to enable the jogging feature of the Teach Pendant.

The Teach Pendant will be disabled until Move to Safe Position is selected.

Move to safe position on the Teach Pendant Dashboard called out with a red box.

You can use the Arm Jogging buttons to move the 6-Axis Arm incrementally along the x, y, or z-axis. 

You will practice jogging the 6-Axis Arm later in this Lesson.

The Arm Jogging section of the Teach Pendant with the positive x, y, z and negative x, y, z button highlighted with a red box.

You can change the Jogging Increment to increase or decrease each incremental movement that the 6-Axis Arm is jogged.

The default increment is 10 millimeters (mm).
 

Jogging increment buttons called out with a red box.

You can also change the units displayed in the Teach Pendant from millimeters (mm) to inches (in), in the Teach Pendant Settings section. Teach Pendant Settings are located at the bottom of the Teach Pendant.

This changes the coordinate units in the Teach Pendant Dashboard as well as the Jogging Increment options.
 

Teach pendant settings at the bottom of the teach pendant. There are four lines: Units, Speed, End Effector, and Pen Offset. There are two buttons in the Units section. The one on the left reads 'm m'. The one on the right reads, 'i n'.

Practice Jogging the 6-Axis Arm

Now that you know what jogging is, you will practice jogging the 6-Axis Arm for yourself. 

Be sure the 6-Axis Arm is connected to VEXcode, the Teach Pendant is open.

Select Move to Safe Position to enable the Teach Pendant. 

 

Move to Safe Position button highlighted at the top of the Teach Pendant

First, practice jogging along the x-axis. Select the – X and + X buttons in the Teach Pendant. Observe how the 6-Axis Arm moves each time the button is pressed.

The positive and negative jogging increment buttons on the Teach Pendant called out in a red box.

Next, practice jogging along the y-axis. Select the – Y and + Y buttons in the Teach Pendant. Observe how the 6-Axis Arm moves each time the button is pressed.

Positive and negative y axis jogging increment buttons in a red box.

Now, practice jogging along the z-axis. Select the – Z and + Z buttons in the Teach Pendant. Observe how the 6-Axis Arm moves each time the button is pressed.

Positive and negative z axis jogging increment buttons in a red box

Activity

Now that you have learned how to jog the 6-Axis Arm, you will practice jogging along the x, y and z-axes.

In this activity, you will practice jogging the 6-Axis Arm along each axis. As you jog the 6-Axis Arm, you will record how the x, y, and z-values change in the Teach Pendant Dashboard.

Be sure that the 6-Axis Arm is connected to VEXcode EXP, and that Move to Safe Position is selected before trying to jog the 6-Axis Arm.

6-Axis Arm with different color lines illustrating the x, y, and z-axes. The x axis line extends in the from the base of the arm and is labeled x+. It also extends in the opposite direction behind the arm base and is labeled x-.The y axis line extends to the right of the arm base and is labeled y +. It also extends to the left of the arm base and is labeled y-. The z axis extends from the base of the arm up towards the ceiling and is labeled z+.

Follow each step and record your answers to the questions in your engineering notebook:

X-axis:

  1. Position the 6-Axis Arm with the Tool Center Point (TCP) above number 32 on the Tile.
  2. Move it until the TCP is positioned above the number 20 by jogging the 6-Axis Arm.
  3. Jog the 6-Axis Arm back to number 32.
  4. Answer the following question in your engineering notebook: How does the x-value change in the Teach Pendant Dashboard as you jog the 6-Axis Arm?

Y-axis:

  1. Position the 6-Axis Arm with the Tool Center Point (TCP) above number 12 on the Tile.
  2. Move it until the TCP is positioned above the number 10 by jogging the 6-Axis Arm.
  3. Jog the 6-Axis Arm back to number 12.
  4. Answer the following question in your engineering notebook: How does the y-value change in the Teach Pendant Dashboard as you jog the 6-Axis Arm?

Z-axis:

  1. Position the 6-Axis Arm with the Tool Center Point (TCP) above number 29 on the Tile.
  2. Move it up so the TCP is approximately 70mm off of the Tile by jogging the 6-Axis Arm.
  3. Jog the 6-Axis Arm back down to its approximate original position over number 29.
  4. Answer the following question in your engineering notebook: How does the z-value change in the Teach Pendant Dashboard as you jog the 6-Axis Arm?

Check Your Understanding

Before beginning the next Lesson, ensure that you understand the concepts in this Lesson by answering the questions in the document below in your engineering notebook.

Check Your Understanding questions > (Google Doc / .docx / .pdf)

Select Next > to learn about end effectors.

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