Kinova Link 6 User manual

Link 6 user guide
Optional gripper shown

Contents
Copyright notice........................................................................................................................................1
Disclaimers................................................................................................................................................ 2
Abbreviations.............................................................................................................................................3
Link6 overview......................................................................................................................................... 5
Intended use..............................................................................................................................................6
Unintended uses....................................................................................................................................... 6
Warranty information.............................................................................................................................. 7
Applicable firmware................................................................................................................................. 7
Technical specifications........................................................................................................................... 9
Schematics and dimensions.................................................................................................................. 11
Eective workspace......................................................................................................................13
Components............................................................................................................................................. 15
Base............................................................................................................................................................ 15
Specifications and dimensions of the base of the arm.......................................................... 15
Actuators...................................................................................................................................................16
Wrist interface overview........................................................................................................................ 17
Force torque sensor.................................................................................................................... 20
Mechanical interface...................................................................................................................20
Electrical interface...................................................................................................................... 20
Wrist interface compatibility..................................................................................................... 23
Controller overview................................................................................................................................24
Controller mounting interface...................................................................................................27
Controller electrical and communications interface.............................................................28
Teach pendant overview........................................................................................................................ 31
Industrial I/O panel overview...............................................................................................................32
Industrial I/O power supply.......................................................................................................34
General-purpose digital inputs................................................................................................. 35
General-purpose digital outputs...............................................................................................36
Analog inputs................................................................................................................................38
Analog outputs............................................................................................................................. 38
Emergency stop inputs...............................................................................................................40
Teach pendant bypass inputs.....................................................................................................41
Safety-rated digital inputs......................................................................................................... 42
Wrist I/O................................................................................................................................................... 43
Wrist power supply..................................................................................................................... 44
General-purpose inputs and outputs for the wrist............................................................... 44
Wrist RS-485................................................................................................................................. 44

Gigabit Ethernet on the wrist....................................................................................................45
Safety........................................................................................................................................................46
Precautions.............................................................................................................................................. 46
Safety directives and warnings............................................................................................................ 46
Risk assessment...................................................................................................................................... 49
Safety equipment....................................................................................................................................50
Assessments before using the robot................................................................................................... 50
Stop categories.........................................................................................................................................51
Emergency stop....................................................................................................................................... 51
Move robot arm without power............................................................................................................51
Safety functions.......................................................................................................................................52
List of safety functions................................................................................................................52
Stopping time and distance....................................................................................................... 56
Diagnostic coverage.....................................................................................................................56
Safety modes................................................................................................................................. 57
State timelines of safety functions.......................................................................................................57
SF01 Emergency stop timeline.................................................................................................. 58
SF02 Protective stop timeline....................................................................................................59
SF03 Joint position monitoring timeline.................................................................................60
SF04 Joint speed monitoring timeline......................................................................................61
SF05 Monitored stop timeline................................................................................................... 62
SF06 Protection zone monitoring timeline............................................................................. 63
SF07 TCP and Elbow speed monitoring timeline...................................................................65
Robot safety protections and limits.................................................................................................... 66
Joint limits..................................................................................................................................... 67
Tool center point limits..............................................................................................................68
Elbow limits.................................................................................................................................. 69
Protection zones..................................................................................................................................... 69
Tool sphere.................................................................................................................................... 71
Zones pane.....................................................................................................................................71
Zone shapes...................................................................................................................................74
Exporting or importing all zones into one file....................................................................... 76
Visualization pane........................................................................................................................ 77
Safety I/O..................................................................................................................................................78
Safety inputs................................................................................................................................. 79
Safety outputs............................................................................................................................... 81
State timelines of safety outputs.............................................................................................. 83
Safety checksums....................................................................................................................................87
Parameters that are the basis for the safety checksum........................................................ 87
Arm calibration.......................................................................................................................................88
Exporting calibration files......................................................................................................... 90
Importing arm calibration files................................................................................................. 91
Modes of operation of Link6................................................................................................................ 92
Complete start-up sequence................................................................................................................ 93
State: O........................................................................................................................................93
State: Controller initialization................................................................................................... 94
State: Controller idle................................................................................................................... 95
State: Arm initialization.............................................................................................................. 95

State: Arm maintenance............................................................................................................. 96
State: Monitored stop..................................................................................................................97
State: Fault...............................................................................................................................................98
Operating modes.................................................................................................................................... 99
Mode: Manual Jog......................................................................................................................100
Mode: Hand Guiding................................................................................................................. 102
Mode: Hold-to-Run................................................................................................................... 103
Mode: Automatic.........................................................................................................................105
Recovery mode......................................................................................................................................106
Robot lights and what they mean: a reference................................................................................107
Hardware installation........................................................................................................................... 110
Inside the Link6 boxes........................................................................................................................ 110
Unpacking the arm................................................................................................................................ 111
Considerations before installing the arm......................................................................................... 112
Installing the arm directly to a surface............................................................................................. 112
Installing the arm on a third-party adapter plate...........................................................................114
Unpacking the controller..................................................................................................................... 114
Considerations before installing the controller............................................................................... 115
Installing the controller on a flat surface..........................................................................................117
Connecting the arm to the controller............................................................................................... 118
Installing the teach pendant mount...................................................................................................118
Connecting the teach pendant to the controller.............................................................................120
Connecting power to the controller..................................................................................................120
Connecting a computer to the controller......................................................................................... 121
Connecting a network to the controller........................................................................................... 122
Initial software setup............................................................................................................................ 123
Supported client devices......................................................................................................................123
Logging in...............................................................................................................................................124
Repositioning the arm to use it for the first time...........................................................................126
KortexWebApp layout..........................................................................................................................127
Menu pages..................................................................................................................................128
Indicators, user profile, and power........................................................................................ 130
Robot control panel....................................................................................................................132
System information...............................................................................................................................135
Robot networking and communication.............................................................................................136
User management................................................................................................................................. 138
Adding a user.............................................................................................................................. 139
Editing a user.............................................................................................................................. 141
Deleting a user............................................................................................................................142
Elevating permissions................................................................................................................143
Remote access........................................................................................................................................144
Upgrading software...............................................................................................................................145
Plugins..................................................................................................................................................... 147
Getting the plugins for the robot.............................................................................................147
Installing plugins........................................................................................................................148
Overview of working with plugins..........................................................................................150
Configuring tools................................................................................................................................... 151
Adding tools.................................................................................................................................152

Other actions that can be taken on tools...............................................................................154
Configurations for the robot settings................................................................................................ 155
Configuring the controller for robot controls.......................................................................156
Configuring the arm for robot controls................................................................................. 156
Configuring the force torque...................................................................................................160
Visual programming............................................................................................................................. 162
Overview of the Program page...........................................................................................................162
Variable management...........................................................................................................................164
Program variable management................................................................................................164
Persistent variable management..............................................................................................167
Variables...................................................................................................................................................171
Examples of JSON statements.................................................................................................. 174
Adding a variable to the global namespace........................................................................... 174
Adding a variable to a program................................................................................................177
Selecting a variable.....................................................................................................................181
Deleting a variable that is being used in a program............................................................ 182
Core tiles................................................................................................................................................ 184
Common core parameters in the Tile Configuration pane............................................................185
Basic: Set tile parameters....................................................................................................................186
Basic: Wait tile parameters..................................................................................................................187
Basic: Condition tile parameters........................................................................................................187
Basic: Loop tile parameters................................................................................................................ 189
Basic: Message tile parameters.......................................................................................................... 189
Robot: Waypoints tile parameters..................................................................................................... 190
Waypoint parameters................................................................................................................ 190
Constraint parameters...............................................................................................................195
Custom Frame parameters..................................................................................................... 200
Debug tools for waypoints....................................................................................................... 201
Robot: Matrix tile parameters............................................................................................................203
Industrial I/O: tiles...............................................................................................................................206
Industrial I/O: Read Input tile parameters........................................................................... 207
Industrial I/O: Set Output tile parameters............................................................................207
Industrial I/O: Wait for Input tile parameters......................................................................209
Hand Guiding panel............................................................................................................................. 210
Jog Cartesian panel............................................................................................................................... 211
Translation and rotation from the Jog Cartesian panel....................................................... 211
Additional settings......................................................................................................................212
Jog Angular panel.................................................................................................................................. 213
Additional settings......................................................................................................................214
Program creation...................................................................................................................................215
Creating a program....................................................................................................................216
Debug panel overview.......................................................................................................................... 217
Debugging a program................................................................................................................218
Program is ready to use.......................................................................................................................219
Running a program in Automatic mode................................................................................ 219
Running a program in Hold-to-Run mode............................................................................219
Diagnostics............................................................................................................................................. 221
Built-in self tests...................................................................................................................................221

Status of safety functions......................................................................................................... 222
Status of the controller.............................................................................................................223
Status of the actuators..............................................................................................................229
Status of the wrist..................................................................................................................... 236
Robot monitoring.................................................................................................................................. 237
Overview pane of the Monitoring page..................................................................................238
Detailed pane of the Monitoring page................................................................................... 239
Event notifications................................................................................................................................ 241
Plugins....................................................................................................................................................245
Arm plugin............................................................................................................................................. 245
Industrial I/O plugin.............................................................................................................................245
Controller analog on the Industrial I/O plugin page...........................................................246
Controller digital inputs on the Industrial I/O plugin page................................................247
Controller digital outputs on the Industrial I/O plugin page.............................................248
Wrist analog on the Industrial I/O plugin page....................................................................249
Wrist digital on the Industrial I/O plugin page.................................................................... 250
Accessories.............................................................................................................................................252
Controller wall mount..........................................................................................................................252
Installing the Kinova wall mount............................................................................................ 254
Gigabit Ethernet adapter..................................................................................................................... 255
Dimensions of the Gigabit Ethernet adapter.........................................................................255
Installing the Gigabit Ethernet adapter................................................................................. 256
External emergency stop station........................................................................................................257
Installing an external emergency stop station...................................................................... 257
External 3-position enabling device..................................................................................................258
Installing the external 3-position enabling device............................................................... 259
Maintenance..........................................................................................................................................260
Consumables......................................................................................................................................... 260
Preventive maintenance.......................................................................................................................261
Daily maintenance......................................................................................................................261
Weekly maintenance.................................................................................................................. 261
Quarterly maintenance............................................................................................................. 262
Yearly maintenance................................................................................................................... 262
Unscheduled maintenance.................................................................................................................. 262
Fastener maintenance..........................................................................................................................263
Servicing.................................................................................................................................................265
Disposal................................................................................................................................................. 266
Troubleshooting.................................................................................................................................... 267
Issues related to hardware..................................................................................................................267
Why does the controller have no power?.............................................................................. 267
Why is the robot not powering on?........................................................................................ 267
Why is the robot moving in joint Hand Guiding mode by itself?...................................... 268

Why is the snapshot button not working?............................................................................ 268
Why is my tool not working?.................................................................................................. 268
Emergency stop..........................................................................................................................269
Why is the wrist enabling device not enabling Hand Guiding mode?...............................269
Why is the controller hot?....................................................................................................... 270
Issues related to safety elements.......................................................................................................270
Why can I not edit any safety configurations?..................................................................... 270
Why is the external safety device not working?...................................................................270
Why is the robot stuck in Reduced mode?............................................................................ 271
Issues related to modes of operations...............................................................................................271
Why is Manual mode disabled?................................................................................................271
Why can the robot not exit recovery mode?..........................................................................271
Issues related to plugins......................................................................................................................272
Why can I not configure Industrial I/Os?.............................................................................. 272
Issues related to programs and programming................................................................................ 272
Why can I not assign a variable to a field?............................................................................ 272
Why are tiles missing in the visual programming interface?..............................................273
Why can I not find a program in the list of programs?....................................................... 273
Why do some of the tiles of an imported program show a question mark?..................... 274
Issues related to KortexWebApp...................................................................................................... 274
Why is the robot not going to the programmed position?..................................................274
Why is the computer not connecting to KortexWebApp?..................................................275
Why is KortexWebApp not responding on my computer?................................................ 276
Why is there a pop-up requesting visual confirmation of the robot pose after the
robot reboots?........................................................................................................................276
Glossary.................................................................................................................................................. 277
A................................................................................................................................................................277
B................................................................................................................................................................277
C............................................................................................................................................................... 278
D............................................................................................................................................................... 278
E................................................................................................................................................................279
F...............................................................................................................................................................280
G.............................................................................................................................................................. 280
H.............................................................................................................................................................. 280
I.................................................................................................................................................................281
J.................................................................................................................................................................281
K............................................................................................................................................................... 281
L............................................................................................................................................................... 282
M.............................................................................................................................................................. 282
N...............................................................................................................................................................283
O...............................................................................................................................................................283
P............................................................................................................................................................... 283
R............................................................................................................................................................... 285
S............................................................................................................................................................... 286
T............................................................................................................................................................... 286
U............................................................................................................................................................... 287
W.............................................................................................................................................................. 287

EN UG-020 Link 6 user guide r1.0 1
Copyright notice
The information in the Link6 user guide contains proprietary information and, as such, no part
may be reproduced, in part or in whole, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronically
or mechanically, including photocopying, recording, or any information or storage retrieval
system, without prior permission in writing from Kinova.
[phone] kinovarobotics.com
© 2022 Kinova inc. All rights reserved.

EN UG-020 Link 6 user guide r1.0 2
Disclaimers
Kinova® and the Kinova logo are registered trademarks of Kinova inc., herein referred to as
Kinova.
Kortex™ is a trademark of Kinova inc.
All other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective
owners.
Kinova continually works towards improving the reliability and performance of its products.
Kinova does its best to ensure the content of all their user guides is accurate and precise with
respect to the latest version of their products. However, Kinova does not take responsibility for
any erroneous or missing information.
The images in this document may appear differently from what is installed in your environment. If
this arises, make sure you have the correct guide for the robot that you have installed.
Note: The user guide may be updated from time to time. Please make sure to look at the
latest version on our website.
The version of this document is in the header of the pages of the document.
Any questions or comments concerning this document, the information it contains or the product
it describes may be addressed through suppor[email protected].
[phone] kinovarobotics.com
© 2022 Kinova inc. All rights reserved.