12  Operation

12.1 Hardware Operation

12.1.1 Startup

  1. Rigidly mount the Kortx™ sensor onto the end of a robot arm pointing down at a workpiece.
  2. Connect the sensor to the Vision Controller and connect the Vision Controller to either a host-PC or robot controller.
  3. When power is applied, the Kortx™ sensor will automatically turn on. The laser scanning system will start and scanned laser light will project into the scene. Using the software on the Vision Controller, 3D data from the sensor can be used to move the robot based on the pose of the workpiece relative to the robot.
  4. As the robot and sensor move, laser light and sensor data will be capture from different parts of the scene.
  5. The Kortx™ hardware can be controlled either from the embedded control panel on the sensor unit or via a serial interface from software running on the Vision Controller. The controls for the laser scanner are constrained to the Class 2 specifications but various elements can be controlled to optimize the 3D data quality. This includes adjusting the laser focus, setting the laser power (with Class2 limits), and enabling/disabling the secondary scanning system to increase the 3D data density.

12.2 Laser Operation

The laser can be controlled from either:

  1. The control panel on the back of the sensor
  2. Via a serial interface from software running on the Vision Controller.

12.2.1 Laser ON/OFF

1. Sensor Control Panel

  1. Using the spinning motor menu row (“SMo”)
    • When the motor is disabled “OFF” the laser will instantly turn off
    • When the motor is enabled “ON” (and the laser is enabled, LCV “ON”, see laser control menu), the laser will automatically turn on after the motor reaches the setpoint speed (determined by the Class2 specification). It may take several seconds after the motor is enabled to reach the setpoint speed and see the laser turn on.
  2. Using the laser control menu row (“LCv”)
    • When the laser is disabled “OFF” the laser is instantly turned off
    • When the laser is enabled “ON”, the laser will automatically turn on after the motor reaches the setpoint speed (determined by the Class2 specification). It may take several seconds after the motor is enabled to reach the setpoint speed and see the laser turn on.

2. USB Serial interface (Vision Controller software)

  1. Using the Kortx Guidance
    • Press the toggle button to turn on/off the laser
  2. Using the Kortx CLI
    • The following GRPC commands will turn on/off the laser:
python client.py localhost:50051 scanner.Scanner/SetLaserEnable -d '{"value":true}' 

python client.py localhost:50051 scanner.Scanner/SetLaserEnable -d '{"value":false}'
Safety Interlock

The safety interlock requires the spinning motor to be at its setpoint before the laser turns on

12.2.2 Laser POWER

1. Sensor Control Panel

  • The laser power can be controlled using the laser control menu (“LCv”)
  • The third column is the laser power setpoint. The number is a digital value correlating to the amount of laser current. The laser power is calibrated and tested at the factory to meet the Class 2 specifications.
  • The maximum value is set inside the firmware so the user cannot increase the value beyond the Class 2 limits. However the user can increase/decrease the value to optimize the 3D data quality for a particular workpiece or scene.
Note

LCv values are linear with laser power, halving the value equates to halving the laser power.

Note

The user is provided with a calibration report that can be used to translate the digital number LCv values into milliwatts

2. USB Serial interface (Vision Controller software)

Using the Kortx CLI, the following GRPC command will adjust the laser power:

python client.py localhost:50051 scanner.Scanner/SetLaserPower' -d '{"value":10}'
Firmware Safety Limit

The firmware on the sensor will automatically clamp the LCv value to maximum value set by the calibration and Class 2 requirement.