Mike's 6-Axis Articulated Robot

[macardoso]

Got a big can of Goof-Off and was able to remove the rest of the paint and overspray to get this thing cleaned up. Looks really nice now in my opinion. I even got the spray gun cleaned up. This looks to be an airless sprayer using high pressure product feed and pneumatics to control the ON/OFF of the sprayer. Not sure what I could use it for, but I'm not throwing it out.



Ordered 20' of motor cable (25 conductors, 18AWG, shielded) and got (hopefully correct) mating MIL-SPEC connectors for each end. These were available for ~$180 each, new from Digikey, but I got them on eBay for $8 and $10 respectively. Whoo! They are solder cup variety.





The teach pendant connector should arrive today, cross your fingers I ordered the right one. I also put in best offers on the Valve, Input, Output 1, and Output 2 cables on eBay. These are for connecting the controller to external devices. I don't *need* them so I offered a low amount which I'd be happy to buy them for. Would be nice to have a full set of cables, but not worth investing a ton of money into.



As a bonus, I cleaned the whole shop too. Really makes it nice for the next time I want to go mess around with something.

 

[macardoso]

Teach Pendant connector arrived today from RS Components in the UK and it was a perfect fit. That was super lucky.





Trying to identify this connector. It is for an ESTOP button and currently has a shorting plug installed.



Finally, I got my best offer accepted after a bit of negotiation with the seller on those 4 cables. All in all, I've spent a fair bit more than the cost of the robot replacing the broken motor and getting the missing cables and such. The low price on the robot isn't quite so great after all that but still a killer deal compared to what I would have had to pay for a complete system if one were even available. I think I'm done getting stuff for now. Should have all the necessary components to get this running unless the entire controller is no-good.

 

[macardoso]

Denso support sent me "Owner's Manual B - Programming"! It is 480 page monster. If I get the original control box working (currently my plan) this will be invaluable. Even for such an old robot, there are some pretty advanced control features that this incorporates. I'd have difficulty adding all of this into a custom programmed PLC control.

Had to upload in 9 parts to get around the 4MB attachment limit

 

[macardoso]

Even better, he sent me the service manual! This has some of the most important info I've been looking for. Especially cable pinouts!

Still haven't found out the teach pendant wiring, but there was one clue in the manual after a quick scroll through.

 

[macardoso]

I was also given a screenshot of an RC5 controller wiring document. Apparently DENSO repair shops use the same single phase cable for all RC3/5/7 controllers.

 

[rabler]

Keep the updates coming, I'm fascinated!

 

[macardoso]

Searched ebay for "antique 4 pin connector" since I was giving up hope and look what pops up 8 listings down. That is the right plug for the ESTOP circuit!

 

[macardoso]

The manuals I got from Denso did not contain any information about the wiring of the teach pendant connector. I sent a message to every seller of one of these teach pendants on eBay in a hail mary that they might be willing to help me pin out the cable.

Someone was nice enough to do this for me!



I'll have to do some double checking before I plug this in and power it on, but it checks out against the information in the posted earlier.



Some people are just awesome!

 

[Cadillac STS]

Searched ebay for "antique 4 pin connector" since I was giving up hope and look what pops up 8 listings down. That is the right plug for the ESTOP circuit!

View attachment 396524

Having an Estop button in hand during the programming will be essential to stop it from making an unintended move

 

[macardoso]

Having an Estop button in hand during the programming will be essential to stop it from making an unintended move

Oh for sure! There is one on the teach pendant, but this one allows for a remotely mounted ESTOP button.