Show Mode - Installation Guide

The Show mode program is an optional function of the official Pally URCap (release 2.12 and above). To access it, you will require a special DEMO or Trial license. If you already have one of these licenses, under “Installation-URCaps-Pally-Advanced-Other”, select “Show mode” in the Operation Mode drop-down menu. The Show mode program was made to show the different functionalities of Pally. It will depalletize from one pallet, drop the boxes off on the conveyor/drop-off position and then palletize them on the other pallet.

If you can’t find “Show mode” try to restart Polyscope.

Setup requirements:

For the Show mode program to work, the following is required;

two pallets
a conveyor or gravity slider (recommended)
one of the two following sensor options:

Two sensors, one for confirming drop off and one for pick up (recommended)
1. for the primary position (Pick) : select the corresponding digital input with normal logic (when the sensor is HIGH it triggers a Palletize action from the Pick position)
2. for the secondary position (Drop) : select the same digital input but with "inverse" logic (when the sensor is LOW it triggers a Depalletize action from the pallet to the Drop position)
One sensor alternating between signals; “High” for box presence on the conveyor (palletizing) and “Low” for conveyor empty (depalletizing)

Note: A simple table/pedestal can also be used instead of a conveyor or gravity slider, but the pickup and drop of position cannot be the same. If you are using a pedestal, move the secondary pickup a bit higher than the primary pickup. Using this option will require sensor option two and guidelines on the table/pedestal to avoid position errors that could accumulate over time.

Setup:

After enabling “Demo”-mode, set up Pally as usual. If you doubt, visit the link: Get started - Pally URCap.

Please note that the Show mode program requires both Primary and Secondary conveyor enabled and to be configured/calibrated correctly. Conveyor width, Fixed guide position and width should be the same on both conveyors.

The primary pickup is the position the robot picks boxes from and the secondary pickup is used to drop off the boxes that are being depalletized. Secondary pickup is marked in red in the picture below.

Currently, the Show mode program does not include the usual product selection screen. As illustrated in the attached screenshot, the pattern name needs to be given in the “rf_product_selection_predefined” variable. To add this use the native script function in UR and add it under initial MoveJ. Please note that “pattern_name” should be swapped out with the name of the pattern you are using.

How to use:
When you start the Show mode program, a popup will appear to select which pallet is full (left or right).

Note: The layout on the pallet needs to be the same as the pattern you have selected in “rf_product_selection_predefined”.
If your pattern is difficult, just start Pally in a regular palletizer mode (select “Palletizer” instead of “Demo” under “Installation-URCaps-Pally-Advanced”) and let the robot build your pattern on the left or right pallet, ready for depalletizing. When the pallet is complete, you can start the demo.

The robot will start with depalletizing from the full pallet, and put the box on the drop position on the conveyor, which is further away from the pick position. Then the box will travel to the end of the conveyor and gets aligned perfectly. The pick signal is triggered when the box arrives. The robot will pick the box and palletize it to the other pallet. When all boxes are moved, the program will start depalletizing from the other pallet back, and this is repeated forever.

If you have product sensors, we suggest the following placement:

The pick sensor is at the front of the box, the drop sensor is at the other end of the box. The drop sensor needs to be detecting the box for the show mode to palletize the box. If the drop box don’t detect the box it will continue to depalletize more boxes before starting to palletize.