HC Series – Encoder Battery Failure

Introduction

When an Encoder Backup Battery fails on an HC robot the controller will display similar Alarms and behavior to any other FSU enabled robot.  An additional Speed Limit message may be encountered which can be confusing.

Details

When an Encoder Backup Battery fails on an HC robot the controller will display a variety of Alarms:

These Alarms indicate that the Encoder Backup Battery for the S and L-axis motors has failed.  An accompanying message is also scrolling at the bottom of the screen.  Pressing the RESET button near the bottom of the screen will clear these MINOR Alarms.

At this time Absolute Data is not present for the S and L-axis if viewed on any of the Home Position screens.  The robot cannot be Forwarded to any programmed positions.  It can only be Forwarded to a Position Variable such as Second Home where encoder data could be recovered.  The robot can also be Jogged in Joint Mode if needed to align the axes needing to be recovered.  The failed battery will need to be replaced, or controller power maintained ON or recovered data will be lost again.

When Power to the Servo Motors is first attempted to be turned ON an OUT OF RANGE ( DROP-VALUE) Alarm will occur:

This MINOR Alarm can also be cleared by pressing the RESET button near the bottom of the screen.

The Message Bar shows the message to Check position [R1]:

The Manipulator needs to be in the correct position to recover the lost Encoder Data.  If the robot must be Forwarded or Jogged to the correct position to recover the lost Encoder Data a SPEED LIMIT (FUNCTIONAL SAFETY) Message will be displayed indicating that safe Teaching Speed Limits are being applied: