How Flexx Reference Works!

The Flexx Reference works by performing an offset calculation between a captured known position in the workcell (Reference Point / FlexxFeature / Station Interface Block) and the previously captured position of that known position. It then applies the offset difference between the initial captured position and the new captured position to the Moves and Waypoints within the program. Below is a diagram to help with explanation:

Diagram 1

Programming With Flexx Reference

When using the Flexx Reference there are two key concepts:

  • Capturing the FlexxFeature in the Installation Node

  • Update or “Convert” the Program Moves & Waypoints to be relative to the FlexxFeature

Capturing the FlexxFeature in the Installation Node gives the Flexx Feature Pose Initial in the diagram above. This is done by using the Update button in the installation node in Polyscope.

Initial Position of FlexxFeature is captured

Updating or “Converting” the program using the Flexx Reference program node, tells the Moves and Waypoints nested beneath the Flexx Reference that they need to be relative to the captured position above ^.

Waypoint_1 and Waypoint_2 are now relative to FlexxFeature

Now that these points are relative to the FlexxFeature, when the robot shifts position, the FlexxFeature position can be Updated from the Installation Node to capture the kinematic difference shown in Diagram 1 above and automatically apply the offset to the moves and waypoints. This is represented by FlexxFeature Pose Shifted above.

There is a key difference between the Update function in the program node versus the installation node which is visually shown in the diagram below.