Linear motion firmware bug

Tech Support
1

Hi, this is a duplicate of a post I made in the Wlkata Discord.

I noticed an issue where the Mirobot did not properly do linear motion. Attempting to use linear motion results in something like “fast” movement (MOVJ), but not as fast as actual fast movement. For example, going from Y 200 to Y -200 still swings in an arc instead of in a straight line.

I did more testing with different firmware. Mirobot firmware 20220411 is the last one I have where linear motion works properly.

I also tested my other Wlkata arms. My MT4 arm has the same issue. However, my Haro380 arm does linear motion properly.

2

Hi, thanks for sharing this. The firmware comparison is especially helpful.

We’ve noted this issue and will investigate it further. We’ll share an update as soon as we have one.

At the same time, we’re working on the next generation of WLKATA Studio, called WLKATA StudioX, which will bring more modern features such as controlling multiple WLKATA robotic arms, OpenCV-based vision functions, simulation, and more. We’ll make sure this issue is taken into account during development so we can avoid the same behavior in future releases.

Really appreciate you taking the time to report this and help us improve the software!

3

Thank you again for your detailed testing and feedback. We just received an update from our technician:

The linear interpolation function is not enabled by default in some earlier firmware versions. To use proper linear motion, this function needs to be enabled manually.

:gear: Here is how to enable it:

Send the following command to the g-code command in the WLKATA Studio:

$35=1

After enabling it, linear motion commands will use linear interpolation, and the robot will move in a straight line instead of following an arc trajectory.

If you need to disable this function, send:

$35=0

This setting is saved permanently in the robot controller, so it only needs to be set once. It will remain active after restarting WLKATA Studio or powering the robot off and on.

Please try this setting and let us know if the linear motion works as expected.

Thank you for your patience and feedback.

4

I did the above command on both my Mirobot and MT4, and linear motion works great on both arms now.

Thank you for your help.