Robotiq’s new Force Torque Sensor URCap is now available on our support website. Its new features make it easier to program to fit many applications. If you were using the previous 1.1.1 version of the URCap, here are a few retro-compatibility tips to keep in mind:

• When building a program from scratch with the Sensor URCap version 1.2.0, it is best to use an empty program. All programs built and run with this URCap get the force and torque values. A thread runs in parallel with the program and updates the Fx, Fy, Fz, Mx, My and Mz values, which are made available as variables in your program. You can zero the values of the Force Torque Sensor by using the script function rq_zero_sensor(). All of these features are embedded in the program preamble. Thus, you do not need run a thread to use the Force Torque Sensor’s data.

• To call the zeroing function, you can either manually enter the “rq_zero_sensor()” script function or add a script and go in the UR function drop-down menu and choose “rq_zero_sensor()”.

• From the same drop-down menu, you have the “get_sensor_fx()” functions that can be assigned to any variable. The function simply returns the value of the FT sensor.

• Using the 1.2.0 Sensor URCap, a program that was built from template_sensor.urp will run without the need for modifications. Anyhow, we recommend to delete the following commands:

• From the BeforeStart section of the program

• socket_close(“stream”)

• socket_open(“127.0.0.1”,63350,”stream”)

• var_1:=0

• From the thread:

• socket_send_string(“READ DATA”,”stream”)

• sensor_data:=socket_read_ascii_float(6,”stream”)

• var_1:=var_1+1

• if...else loop

• Previous URCap versions used the rq_set_zero() function, which was only available using the template_sensor program. The 1.2.0 URCap embeds this function, which was renamed rq_zero_sensor(), in all programs. It was renamed to avoid a double defined function when using template_sensor.urp from previous versions.

• A path at a constant speed that was recorded with the previous URCap will be faster when running with the new URCap. Verify that the constant path runs at the right speed for your application and modify it if needed.

Give this new URCap update a try!