Defining Home Positions

You can define home positions for a mechanism. NC Machine Tool Builder allows to define one or more standard configurations (or home positions) for a mechanism. Each home position is characterized by a unique name and a set of command (also known as DOF, Degree Of Freedom) values. Home positions are typically used to define the desired states of a mechanism; for example, the open and closed configurations of a gripper.

This task shows you how to:

Define Home Positions

You can define home positions for a mechanism using the Home Positions command.

  1. Click Home Positions on the Machine Building toolbar.

    The Home Position Viewer dialog box is displayed.



  2. Click New in the Home Position Viewer dialog.

    The Home Position Editor dialog box is displayed with the standard jog controls in the upper section and a text entry field in the lower section.

    The jog controls are used to specify the desired set of command values for the home position, while the text entry field is used to specify its name.



Create a Home Position

You can create two home positions - one with all DOFs set to zero, and the other with X-axis DOF set to 100.

  1. Set all the DOF values to zero for the first home position, and enter the string Zero_Home in the Home Position area's Name field.

  2. Click Close and exit the Home Position Editor.

    Zero_Home has been added to the list of home positions for the mechanism.



  3. Define a second home position named Home.

    Use the slider bar to set the value of Axis X to 100.

  4. Double-click on each home position in the Home Position Viewer, .

    This has the effect of immediately moving the mechanism to the specified coordinates.

Modify a Home Position

You can modify home positions for a mechanism.

  1. Select Home and click Modify button in the Home Position Viewer.

  2. Move the mouse into the geometry area near Axis Y; use the manipulator to change the value of Axis Y.

  3. Click OK.

  4. Click Close on the Home Position Viewer.

    For additional information on entering command values, see Jogging a Mechanism.