Point-to-Point Robot Control

Most robots today operate on a system called point to point control. This type of robot control is achieved by moving the robot to a specific location (point) during programming and recording the coordinates of the point into memory by pressing a button on the teach pendant. During the programming phase of the project, all of the points are recorded in the order that the robot must move to them. When the robot runs the program, it moves sequentially from point to point. When the robot reaches a point, it can energize or de-energize any output signals to energize end effectors or send output signals that are used for interfacing to other equipment in the cell such as pneumatic cylinders that are used to move parts into location.

The most important part about the point-to-point program is that the robot can move one or all of its axes to move from one point to the next. The robot does not care if the travel between one point and the next is a straight path or if the motion has a slight arc in it. All that's important is that the robot stops when it reaches the next point. In most cases, the function the robot provides occurs after it reaches a point. For instance, if the robot uses suction to pick up and place a part, it will turn on its suction when it reaches the point where it's ready to pick up the part, and it will turn off its suction when it reaches the point where it will drop off the part.