School of Computing,

Communication and Electronics

Mitsubishi RV-2AJ
Industrial Robot Programming
and Calibration
Lab Notes

Joerg Wolf
Paul Robinson Version 0.6 Nov 2005
 Table of Contents

page

1. Introduction....................................................................................... 3
1.1 Safety ............................................................................................ 3
1.2 Operational rules ........................................................................... 3

2. Operation modes .............................................................................. 3

2.1 Teach pendant mode .................................................................... 5
2.1.1 Moving the robot......................................................................... 5
2.2 Automatic Operation...................................................................... 5
2.3 Automatic Operation, controlled externally (via PC)...................... 5
2.3.1 Creating and downloading a MELFA-BASIC file ........................ 6
2.3.2 Creating and downloading a teach-point file............................... 7

3. Introduction to MELFA-BASIC.......................................................... 8
3.1 Instruction Reference........................................................................ 8
3.2 Example programs: ....................................................................... 8
3.2.1 Placing of an object .................................................................... 8
3.2.2 Subroutines ................................................................................ 9
3.2.3 External input.............................................................................. 9
3.2.4 Palletising ................................................................................. 10
3.3 Variables......................................................................................... 10

4. Common Error Messages............................................................... 11

5. Working Envelope Limits ..................................................................... 11

References: ............................................................................................. 12

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1. Introduction
This manual provides a hands-on introduction to the Mitsubishi RV-2AJ, 5-axis
industrial robot. For further information please consult the Mitsubishi manual [1].

1.1 Safety

REFER TO THE SAFETY SECTION OF YOUR MODULE NOTES – THESE ARE

ON THE PORTAL.

The following safety rules must ALWAYS be obeyed. Failure to do so may result in
exclusion from the laboratory.

1. NEVER enter the robot work space when servo power is on!
i.e., the green LED (light emitting diode) at the “SVO ON” switch is on.

2. Always make sure there is no one in the work cell before starting a program.

3. Always give an audible warning before running the program.

4. Always keep one hand at the emergency stop and observe the robot during
its full operational cycle

5. Always write “OVRD 20” as the first line in any robot program. This limits the
maximum speed

6. Never load the robot with more than 2 kg. If the arm is operated at full stretch
limit the maximum load to 0.5 kg.

7. Never leave the robot unattended when it is powered up.

1.2 Operational rules

In order to prevent damage to the robot:

• Do not switch off the controller power while the robot has power on the
servo
• Avoid collisions. If you think the robot will cause a collision press the
emergency stop button immediately.
• Do not change the tool-end coordinates

2. Operation modes

Identify the four parts of the robot system, namely;

1. The Mitsubishi RV-2AJ robot arm

2. The robot controller
3. A Teach Pendant (or TeachBox).
4. The PC

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 Figure1. The Controller

Emergency Stop Button

Figure 2.

The Teach Pendant

Make sure the emergency stop buttons of both the teach pendant
and controller are pulled out.
Switch on the Controller. (Power up takes approx. 20 seconds)

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2.1 Teach pendant mode

Turn the key on the Controller to TEACH.

Turn the key on the Teach Pendant to ENABLE.

2.1.1 Moving the robot

To move the robot two buttons must be pushed, i.e., the button under the teach
pendant (dead-man’s-handle) and the button “STEP/MOVE”. (Keeping these two
buttons pressed down turns on the servos). A low beeping sound from the PWM can
be heard and the LED “SVO ON” goes green. Stay out of the work space when the
servos are on (Safety Rule 1 – above)

The robot can be now moved in joint-space (Ө1 to Ө5) or Cartesian-space (XYZ).
For Cartesian-space operation press the XYZ button once (top row 3rd across).
The buttons labelled –X,+X,-Y,+Y,-Z,+Z can now be used to move the robot.
The buttons labelled -A,+A are to rotate the robot’s end-effector around the end
effector Z axis. .
The buttons labelled,-B,+B are to rotate the robot’s end-effector around the end
effector …… axis?

Pressing the XYZ button at any time displays the position of the end-effector.
To open and close the hand keep the dead-man’s handle pressed, release the
“STEP/MOVE” button and keep the “HAND” button pressed instead.
To open the hand press “+C” to close it “-C”

2.2 Automatic Operation

Automatic Operation is used to run programs that are stored in the robot controller
memory. The program will cycle, i.e. run continuously once started.

Turn the key on the Teach Pendant to DISABLE.

Turn the key on the Controller to AUTO(Op.) .
Press the “Change Display” button until the status display shows “P.xxxxxx”
Press the “Up” or “Down” button to select your program.
Switch on the servos by pressing the “SVO ON” button.
Press “START”
If the “END” button is pressed, the robot will finish the current program cycle and stop.
If the “STOP” button is pressed, the robot stops immediately.

2.3 Automatic Operation, controlled externally (via PC)

Turn the key on the Teach Pendant to DISABLE.

Turn the key on the Controller to AUTO(Ext.).

To communicate with the robot start up:

“C:\Mitsubishi Progs\RoboExplorer\Mits_Soft\RoboExplorer.exe”

In the background a second program will automatically start up called “RoboCom.exe”

RoboCom has a light blue background when communication with the robot is
established.

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 2.3.1 Creating and downloading a MELFA-BASIC file
A MELFA-BASIC file is a program to control the robot. A typical MELFA-BASIC
program consists of a sequence of move commands which move the robot’s end-
effector, sometimes called the gripper, to predefined target positions (Teach Points).
A MELFA-BASIC file must end with an empty line.

Use the RoboExplorer to select your MELFA-BASIC file from the hard disk. A MELFA-
BASIC file should have the extension “.MB4”. An example file can be found with this
manual: TEST.MB4.

Drag the MELFA-BASIC file across onto the RV-2AJ robot icon, see Figure 3.

Drag the MELFA-Position file across to the left onto the MELFA-BASIC file that has
just been downloaded.

A progress-bar will pop-up during downloading of the MELFA-BASIC and MELFA-

Position file.

Figure 3 – Running a MELFA Basic programme from the PC

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2.3.2 Creating and downloading a teach-point file

Teach points (TP’s) define target positions for the robot. A Teach point for the RV-2AJ
robot consists of 5 values, namely:

1. Cartesian X position
2. Cartesian Y position
3. Cartesian Z position
4. A – wrist rotation A
5. B – wrist rotation B

Hence the Mitsubishi RV-2AJ robot has only 5 degrees of freedom. We know that in
general to both position (x,y,z) and orientate (roll, pitch, yaw) an object in space
requires SIX degrees of freedom. Therefore this robot, in common with many other
industrial robots, has reduced functionality. In practice this does not seriously limit it’s
the range of its application.

To teach the robot a new teach point (TP) position;

• Switch the robot into “Teach pendant mode” and drive the arm to the desired
target position.
• Once the robot is in its target position open “Tools/TP Editor” from the menu on
the PC software.
• Press the right mouse button and choose the option “ New Teach Point”
• Right click on the newly created teach-point and select the option “ Learn
Robot’s Position”
• The teach-point can be renamed using the option “ Edit Teach Point”. The
first letter of the name of the new TP position should be a “P”. e.g. “P1”, “P10” ,
“PSAVE”
• Right mouse-click the option save. The Teach Point file is saved to the hard
drive. A teach point file must have the extension “.POS”

A teach point file can only be downloaded to a robot after the corresponding MELFA-
BASIC file (.MB4) has been downloaded. To download a teach point file drag the file
onto the MELFA-BASIC file in the robot (right hand side of the screen). By dragging
the teach point file onto the MELFA-BASIC program in the robot rather than onto the
robot itself you indicate that the teach points belong to a particular program in the
robot. A progress bar should flash during the download similar to downloading a
program.

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3. Introduction to MELFA-BASIC

3.1 Instruction Reference

Command Explanation Example

MOV Moves the robot to a teach-point position MOV P1
MVS Moves the robot to a teach-point in a straight line MVS P1
Moves the robot to a position above the teach-point MVS P1, -50
in a straight line. ( Z-Axis distance in Tool-frame)
OVRD Override speed limit (0 to 100%) MVS 20
(never use more than 30 for safety ! make this the
first line of your program)
DLY Delay in seconds – Robot waits DLY 0.5
HOPEN Opens the gripper HOPEN 1
HCLOSE Closes the gripper HCLOSE 1
GOSUB Calls a subroutine GOSUB *PICK
RETURN Returns from the subroutine RETURN
DEF POS Defines a position variable DEF POS PTMP
END End of program END

3.2 Example programs:

3.2.1 Placing of an object

The example program Pr1 puts down an object at position P10:

OVRD 20 ‘set speed to 20%

MOV P10, -50 ‘go within 50mm of teach-point P10
OVRD 5 ‘set speed to 5%
MVS P10 ‘go to P10
DLY 0.5 ‘wait 0.5 seconds to make sure the robot stopped
HOPEN 1 ‘open gripper
DLY 0.5 ‘wait 0.5 seconds
OVRD 20 ‘set speed to 20%
MVS P10, -50 ‘move up, to leave position P10
END ‘end of program

Pr1: placing of an object

As shown in the program Pr1 a good program should consider the following:
- use as few teach-points as possible
- Always use an approach point before going to the target point,
to ensure you are not hitting the target from the wrong direction
- use delays to let the robot settle
- set the speed limit appropriately

When using the interpolation move MVS, the robot sometimes cannot create an
interpolation path and returns with an out of range error. Use MOV instead of MVS
when moving between approach points.

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 3.2.2 Subroutines
Example program Pr2 demonstrates how to use GOSUB and return.

P10 = P1 ‘P10 is set to P1

GOSUB *PICKUP ‘call subroutine *PICKUP
P10 = P2 ‘P10 is set to P2
GOSUB *PLACE ‘call subroutine *PLACE
END ‘end of program

*PICKUP ‘subroutine *PICKUP

MVS P10,-50
…..HCLOSE 1….. ‘incomplete subroutine
RETURN ‘end of subroutine *PICKUP

*PLACE
MVS P10,-50
….HOPEN 1…….. ‘incomplete subroutine
RETURN

Pr2: subroutine for pick and place

3.2.3 External input

Example program Pr3 demonstrates the use of the external inputs. The robot has 16
I/O lines. For example if bit 8 is connected to a light beam that monitors a conveyor
belt. If an object comes along the robot picks it up.

*LOOP

MOV PREST ‘Move to a position above the conveyor belt

‘ready to grab object that may come along

WAIT M_IN ( 8 ) = 0 ‘Waits for the input signal bit 8 to turn OFF

‘(light beam has been interrupted by the object)

GOSUB *PICKUP ‘calls subroutine which could pick up the object

GOSUB *PUTSOMEWHERE

GOTO *LOOP

Pr3: External input

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 3.2.4 Palletising
Example program Pr4 shows how to
create a matrix/grid of target points P3
out of 3 corner points. This is very
useful if the robot has to palletise
objects. It can also be used to define
the grid of the Duplo board. A square
Duplo brick is approximately 31.9mm
x 31.9mm. The example program
shows how to define a grid of 3 by 3
bricks using the corner point P1, P2
and P3 (see figure on the right) Y
P1 P2 X

DEF POS P10

P2 = P1 ‘copy coordinates from P1 into P2
P3 = P1 ‘copy coordinates from P1 into P3
P2.X = P2.X + 31.9 * 4.0 ‘modify the copy P2 : extend the X component
P3.Y = P3.Y + 31.9 * 4.0 ‘modify the copy P3 : extend the Y component
DEF PLT 1,P1,P2,P3, ,3,3,1 ‘define a pallet called “PLT 1” made of 9 points (3x3)
‘use P1,P2 and P3 to determine the end points of the pallet

M8 = 5 ‘set the integer variable M8 to 5

P10 = PLT 1,M8 ‘select the fifth position in the pallet and copy it to P10

MOV P10 ‘go to that selected position

Pr3: Defining and using a grid of coordinates

3.3 Variables

Variables can be of different types. The most useful variable type is a position.
A position variable should start with “P”. The position variables P1…P99 are defined,
therefore a DEF POS command is not required for these.
Position variables can be modified. Suppose a teach-point P1 is stored in memory.
To increase the x-component 10 mm use:
P1.X = P1.X + 10

To change P1, rotating around the end-effector’s y-axis 0.07 radians use:
P1.B = P1.B - 0.07

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4. Common Error Messages

When an error occurs the controller will beep. To recover from an error press the reset
button on the teach pendant or on the robot controller. If the emergency stop button
was pushed, it must be pulled out before pressing reset.

In some cases an error a code will appear on the screen. Common error codes are
listed below:

Code Meaning
L2800 – position data is inadequate. *
L2803
L2600 – position is out of range *
L2603
H0060 Emergency Stop on controller was pushed
H0070 Emergency Stop on T/B was pushed
H5000 The T/B Enable key was validated in the automatic mode.
H1010 Collision
C1350 Overload (possibly Collision)
C4340 Variable not defined (you forgot DEF POS or you forgot to
download the teach-point file)

If the code is not listed please consult [2].

* On an error message while trying to go to a pre-programmed teach point there

several possible causes:

• The target position is outside the robots workspace (joint reaches the limit
while trying to reach the target position). Try adjusting the target position
slightly. A fraction of a millimetre can be enough.
• the teach point file (.POS) is corrupt.
Edit the .POS file with MS Notepad (not RoboExplorer!) and confirm that the
last bracket of each position is (6,0) and not (0,0)
• An interpolation or inverse kinematics error can occur if you use MVS (move
linear) commands and a calculated target position rather than a learned
teach-point. Also avoid angles at exactly -/+180.0°.

5. Working Envelope Limits

Joint space limits:

Joint Limit
J1 -150° to +150°
J2 - 60° to +120°
J3 -110° to +120°
J5 - 90° to + 90°
J6 -200° to +200°

Z > 44 mm To prevent the end effector from hitting the work surface
(table)
X > - 220 mm To prevent the robot from reaching behind

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References:
[1] “INSTRUCTION MANUAL, Detailed explanations of functions and operations”,
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Japan, 2001

[2] “INSTRUCTION MANUAL, Troubleshooting”, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation,

Japan, 2001

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