Hi everyone,

I started using FT300 with ActiveDrive URCaps several weeks ago. There two issues quite often.

I am using FT/300 + two finger 85mm gripper + UR5.

1.   even when the gripper is not holding anything or in contact with objects,  ActiveDrive throws out erros "excessive force is applied to the tool"

2.   in the path recording mode,  the robot fights against me when I try to move it, often resulting in singularity that quits force mode.  Also, even I apply every little force, the robot tries to move to some singularity points.    

I wonder any of you encountered this, am I expected to do additional setups before using path recording? Thank you so much!

Hi @jianlan_, I opened a support ticket to help you with that. I will post my findings here afterwards.

@David_Levasseur  Sorry for the delay,  thanks for the ticket.  I answered the ticket by replying your email. Please let me know what you think, thanks!

Thanks to the video @jianlan_ sent, we noticed the sensor was not properly aligned. For the sensor to work as expected, it absolutely needs to be mounted it in the exact same orientation as the example on the picture below. If the provided dowel pin is installed, there is no other possible orientation. Then, it is required to set the COG, TCP and payload. Once this is done, the sensor needs to be calibrated.

I'm having an issue where the UR is fighting against me when I'm trying to do a path recording.
I have double checked that the dowel pin is fitted (as described previously), I have also re calibrated many times.
I have also double checked we're using the latest version of the software etc.
This still hasn't helped me. Sometimes the robot will drift, sometimes it will fight against me, it seems to be very inconsistent.
Is there a setting somewhere that I'm possibly missing?
Any help would be appreciated.

Hello @Martin_B, Could you post a video of the issue you are describing please? Also, what is the serial number of you sensor, version of URCap and version of Polyscope?

Hi David,
Here's a Dropbox link to all the information you requested: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/71u262psmzd2jz9/AABYyQRWs4jNddqqco7A4lCja?dl=0
I also have another question about ActiveDrive - is it possible to 'fix' the Z height whilst recording a path?
I would like to ideally limit motion to X and Y and have the Z at a set value, just wondering if the FT300 has this option.

Hello @Martin_B
I looked at your video and the drift that you experience is normal. When in ActiveDrive mode, if you stop applying a force, we don't want the robot to go in a sudden stop. We programmed the ActiveDrive so it would decelerate slowly to avoid any faults. 

In order to fix the height in Z, you can use ActiveDrive's plane mode:

 
It will force the robot to move on a plane (x-y). 

Hello @Martin_B, Does the sensor "fight" you only in the X axis by any chance?

@David_Levasseur Here is a link to the latest video. When we try to move in active drive, it is making some very strange moves when we try to move in X and Y only (it seems to combine both). In addition to that it is much harder to move in the +X direction than the -X direction.
Note, we performed a brand new calibration immediately before shooting the video.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/vuq854auwr3yfiv/Robotiq_FT300_Issue.MOV?dl=0

Thank you for the video @Martin_B, I sent you a firmware update in private. Please give it a try and let me know how it goes.

Thanks for that @David_Levasseur we managed to perform the firmware update but now have an issue with calibration.
We are unable to successfully validate the calibration for some reason. We get an error message that reads "Could not retrieve or parse calibration results."
We have turned the system off and on several times to reset everything and have tried to calibrate dozens of times with the same result. Any idea what we're missing?

That should work for now but as soon as we release a new URCap with a firmware update prompt, the issue will come back. In my opinion, the best course of action is to send this sensor back for a long term solution. I will send you the paper work in private.

OK, thank you.