MLX100: Changing Soft Limits on Gateway Card

Temporary Changes to the Soft Limits.

The MLX100 pendant and HMI have a Robot Configuration screen.     The Minimum and Maximum Soft Travel Limits of each axis can modified on this screen.    However, if you cycle power to the MLX100, the Soft Limits will be set back to the default values.

To change the soft limits on this screen, you can enter the desired numbers in degrees and press the
[Set Soft Limits] button.   If the limits are outside of the allowable position limits, an error message will be displayed in the Fault Message box at the top right of the configuration screen.

Changing the Soft Limit Default Values after a Power Cycle.

When the MLX100 is powered up, the Soft Limits stored on the MLX100 gateway card will be activated.    Any changes during the last powerup on the HMI screen will be reset to these default values.

To change the default soft limits in the RLxUserData file, install FileZilla or another FTP client on your computer.   [Free download :: http://filezilla-project.org/ ]

1. Startup the FileZilla app.   
   
   
2. Connect an Ethernet cable between the computer and the “Ethernet1” connector on the MLX100 gateway card.  Verify the computer is on the same Ethernet subnet address.  (192.168.1.xx).   If step 3 doesn’t connect successfully, open a Command Prompt on the computer and try pinging the gateway card:
   
                  Ping 192.168.1.200        (If 4 bytes are sent and received, it’s communicating)
   
   
3. At the top of the screen, enter:
   • Host:   192.168.1.200
   • Username:   admin
   • Password:     admin
   • Port:    21
   • Press [Quickconnect]
     
     
     
     
4. The lower left side of this screen shows the “Local site”, or your computers directories.    Browse to a location where you would like to store the file.
5. The lower right side of this screen shows the “Remote site”, or MLX100 gateway card.   Browse to the Robot0 directory.   If there is more than one robot, choose the desired robot# directory.
   
                 /IDE Disk2/DataFiles/Robot0
   
   
6. Under the Filename column, select and drag the RLxUserData.xml file to the computer (Local site) side of the screen.
   
   
   
7. Select this file in the computer directory and open it with a Notepad or Notepad++ editor. Referring to the picture below, change the desired Min and Max numbers.    If the numbers entered are outside of the acceptable limits due to mechanical axis hard limits, an error will appear when the MLX100 is rebooted.
   
   
   
   
8. Save the file.
9. On the FileZilla screen, drag the file from the computer side back to the Robot0 directory shown above.
10. Cycle power to the MLX100 and confirm the correct limits are shown on the Robot Configuration screen.