1. Quick start guide of Mirobot
This chapter briefly introduces how to control the manipulator by using WLKATA Studio, so that users can quickly understand and use the manipulator. The overall process of operation is shown in Figure below.
Step 1. Power adapter and USB cable connection
(1) Use the supplied USB data cable to connect the WLKATA Mirobot and your computer.
Step 2. Powering on and off WLKATA Mirobot
DO NOT Twisting the Joint 1 or Joint 3 by Hand No Matter the Manipulator Is Powered On or Off!
Since this would lead to a fetal damage to the gears of these joints. (See the 2.2 Precautions in this manual)
Power on:
Ensure to connect the manipulator with supplied power adapter. Press the ON/OFF power button on the top of the
manipulator base to power on the device. The green power indicator on the ON/OFF button will light up.
Power off:
Press the power button on the top of the base of the manipulator again to switch off the power. The power indicator light on the button will turned off.
Step 3. Installing the driver and WLKATA Studio
Studio Studio The users can control the Mirobot by using WLKATA Studio software to realize functions such as Joint Mode control, Coordinate Mode control, Teaching & Play, Blockly control and Drawing, etc.
3.1 System environment requirements
WLKATA Studio control software supports the following operating systems:
•Windows 7 (64 bit)，Windows 8 (64 bit)，Windows 10 (64 bit)
3.2 Downloading WLKATA Studio and the driver packages
Download WLKATA Studio software package and the CH340 driver package from http://www.wlkata.com/site/download.html.
3.3 Installing and verification the driver
1.Installing driver
Decompress the driver package, and click SETUP.exe in the directory to install the CH340 driver. In the pop-up window, click INSTALL and the interface will pop up after successful installation. Click OK.
(1) Ensure to connect the manipulator to the computer by using the supplied USB data cable.
(2) Open the Device Manager in your PC windows system. Ensure to tick the Show hidden devices option in the View menu. If the "USB-serial ch340 (COM4)" can be found in the port (COM and LPT), it means the driver is installed successfully. The port number following the COM may be different depends on the default driver installation of your system.
Step 4. Installing and verification of WLKATA Studio
1.Installing WLKATA Studio
Log in to the official website: www.wlkata.com. Click "Support-Download Center". Choose "Wlkata Studio-Win-v1.015.zip (Alpha version)" to download.
WLKATA Studio software package can be directly decompressed and used.
Note: The parent directory file of the software can only be English name.
In the decompressed package, double-click to open the Wlkata studio.exe. If the Wlkata Studio software can be opened correctly, it means that the WLKATA Studio software is running successfully.
3.Verifying the device connection
(1) Open the Wlkata Studio.exe. The software should automatically search and connect to the manipulator after a few seconds. When successfully connects to the manipulator, the upper left corner of the WLKATA Studio interface should display the CONNECTED blue icon.
Step 5. Brief Introduction of WLKATA Studio Control Software
WLKATA Studio is a control software for Mirobot. It includes command control, joint/coord control, teaching, graphical programming, python programming, writing and drawing, firmware upgrade and other functions.
5.1 Chinese and English switch:
After opening the software, click SETTING to set the language, select English or Chinese, confirm and restart. (It can also be set by clicking "EN" in the upper right corner of the interface).
5.2 Joint/Coord Mode switch
In the Commond mode, select "JOINT MODE" or “COORD MODE” at the top of the user interface, and the selected mode will be displayed as a white background status.
5.3 Introduction to SETTING interface
（2）Drawing settings: set drawing speed (recommending the default value)
（3）Calibration: used to calibrate the robotic arm.
（4）Reset: reset all data of the robotic arm (recalibration is required after reset)
（5）Language: Set language and font (After language setting, click OK to automatically restart the software to take effect. After font setting, click OK to manually restart the software to take effect) Or click the "EN" button in the upper right corner of the interface to switch between Chinese and English.
（6）End Effector: select the end tool and rail/belt mode used by the robotic arm.
（7）Firmware: update the firmware, refer to "Mirobot Firmware Upgrade Tutorial" for detailed operation.
Step 6. Start using the manipulator
This chapter describes the essential control operation of this manipulator by using the WLKATA Studio software.
6.1 Prerequisite
•The driver and WLKATA Studio software have been installed successfully. For details, please refer to the 3.2 Installing the driver and WLKATA Studio software.
•The manipulator has been correctly connected to the computer, and the power supply of the manipulator has been turned on. Please refer to 3.3 Powering on and off WLKATA Mirobot for detailed operation.
6.2 Preparing operation steps
1.Connecting WLKATA studio with the manipulator
Double click the Wlkata Studio.exe in the directory, and the Mirobot Studio interface should pop up. Then please follow the steps of 3.3.4 to verify the driver and connection. When the connection is succeeded, the CONNECTED blue icon should be displayed in the upper left corner of the WLKATA Studio interface.
2.HOMING the manipulator before any operation
Before any operation, the manipulator must be homed to the pre-designed homing position. Click the HOMING button in the WLKATA Studio. Wait for the manipulator to be homed. Figures in below shows the manipulator during the homing process, and the correct position of the manipulator after a successful HOMING action.
Note: If the HOMING action is failed or interrupted, please reapply the power of manipulator and repeat the HOMING action again.
The manipulator must be HOMING again on each time reapplying power from a power failure or an emergency stop, or re-opened the WLKATA Studio. One should wait for the HOMING action to be fully completed before any further operation.
3.Software emergency stop and reset
In case of any illegal operation of the manipulator, click the STOP button immediately in the Mirobot Studio to trigger a software emergency stop operation.
After the emergency stop operation, press the RESET button on the top of the manipulator base to recover the device from the emergency status.
After press the RESET button, please HOMING the manipulator in the software again before continuing using the manipulator.
After a software emergency stop, press RESET on top of the base, and do the HOMING again before continuing using the manipulator.
6.3 Using the ROBOT JOINT MODE control function
STEP(1) Click the COMMAND tab in the software interface.
6.4 Using the COORDINATE MODE control function
STEP(1) Click the COMMAND tab.
STEP(2) Switch to COORDINATE MODE in the control modes selection panel.
