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Exporting Study

What is exported?​

Elements of a Process Simulate Study need to be exported to Resolver in order to optimally generate motion paths, interlocks, and allocate tasks. The PS ConnectorSoftware plugins, developed by RTR, that enables the export of projects from 3rd party simulation tools such as Process Simulate and Visual Components for use with Resolver. The Connector also enables... gathers the necessary CAD objects, kinematics, dynamics, operations, and targets from the PS study and automatically uploads it to Resolver upon Export.

The exporter generates a .zip file that is interpreted by Resolver. Within the .zip file, the following files are created:

Export Unzipped

project.yaml​

Defines how the engine should build the workcell. Its objects and robot_models sections reference the CAD manifests in the cad folder. The engine looks at this file to define how objects are positioned and mated.

queries.json​

Defines the query generated from the exporter. The operations, targets, precedence constraints, etc are defined here.

metadata.json​

Collects some performance and study data that is used to tailor the user experience.

cad​

Stores the CAD geometry for the study: one .rtr-combine.yaml manifest per exported object or robot link, referencing the deduplicated .jt files in the cad/Library subfolder.

robot_setup​

Only present when Enable FANUC Cloud Controller Validation is turned on in Settings → Export (a paid feature, off by default). Contains one manifest per robot with the weld gun and controller settings used to validate Resolver-generated paths against a FANUC Cloud Controller.

preview.png​

A screenshot of the Process Simulate canvas taken at export time.

workcell.txt​

A plain-text dump of the collected workcell hierarchy (parts, joints, kinematic chains), useful for debugging.

logs.json​

Contains Connector diagnostic and study data used by Realtime Robotics to investigate export/import issues. Included when Send Connector logs automatically to Realtime Robotics was left enabled at install time (checked by default); omitted if that option was unchecked.

Preparing for Export​

Displayed Objects​

Any objects (including robots) that are currently displayed will be included in the export that is sent to Resolver.

  • Blank any objects that are not necessary for motion planning. This can dramatically reduce file size and collision check calculations, improving performance.
  • Any robots not blanked with no associated operation exported will be exported as static objects in their current pose.
  • A blanked robot used by an operation you are exporting stops the export with an error. Display the robot and export again. Supported in PS Connector 1.27.1 and later; earlier versions let the export through, and the operations belonging to the blanked robot arrived in Resolver in a state the web UI could not work with. See Hidden robot selected.

What are dynamic link attachments?
Dynamic link attachments are objects in your Process Simulate study whose position or shape depends on the robot’s joints—for example, cables, linkage bars, dress packages, or other devices that move with the robot. Because they move with the robot, they can affect collision checking and must be included in the exported collision geometry when they are relevant for motion planning.

Enable Dynamic link attachments in Settings → Export when your Process Simulate study contains such robot-linked dynamic objects that must be included in the collision geometry Resolver loads. This is a persistent setting, checked by default, and applies to every export until changed — it is no longer a per-export option in the Export dialog.

To open Settings, click the gear icon in the top right of the RTR Resolver Viewer and select Settings... from the menu.

Gear icon menu

Dynamic link attachments in Settings, Export tab

  • Dynamic joints and devices listed in Robot Jog -> All Joints are treated as dynamic robot-linked geometry in Process Simulate; Resolver still applies this Settings → Export toggle when importing the study.

Robot Jog with external joints section

  • If an object is dynamic because it depends on robot joints, but it is not listed in Robot Jog -> All Joints, enable Dynamic link attachments in Settings → Export so Resolver includes it.
  • Enable this when the attached device is collision-critical for planning accuracy.
  • Leave it disabled when those attachments are not required, to keep export scope smaller.
  • Large, complex dynamic attachments can increase computation time. For example, dress packages represented by dozens of spherical primitives add collision geometry that can slow export and planning.

When this option is enabled, make sure the relevant robots have active collision sets configured in Process Simulate.

If Resolver reports attachment-related export issues, see:

The remaining export options below are also found in Settings → Export.

Hybrid Interpolation at Spotwelds​

When Use hybrid interpolation at spotwelds is enabled, Resolver generates the path to a spot weld target as two motion segments instead of one: a joint-space segment for most of the approach, switching to a linear segment for the final approach into the target.

Hybrid interpolation at spotwelds in Settings, Export tab

  • Switch distance — the distance (mm) from the target at which the path switches from the joint segment to the linear segment.
  • Joint Speed — the speed, as a percentage, used for the joint-space segment.
  • Linear Speed — the speed (mm/s) used for the linear segment, closest to the target.

Allow Interlocks at Weld Locations​

Allow interlocks at weld locations controls whether Resolver may place interlocks immediately before and after a weld target. Enabled, interlocks can be placed at both sides of the target; disabled, no interlocks are placed at weld target locations.

Allow interlocks at weld locations in Settings, Export tab

Apply Working Limits to External Axes​

Apply working limits to external axes checks whether the values of external axes (such as a spot-weld gun) are within their working limits, and shrinks their exported joint limits to those working limits.

Apply working limits to external axes in Settings, Export tab

This option is greyed out and disabled whenever Indicate Joint Working Limit in Process Simulate's Options → Motion is turned off — enable it there first if you need this option available. In that case, the Export to Resolver dialog also shows a warning banner with a shortcut to enable it or to open Process Simulate's Motion options directly.

Collision Sets​

It is very important that collision sets are enabled and set up correctly. The defined collision sets in PS are translated into collision_rules in the project.yaml. These collision rules are used by the Resolver engine during motion planning. If the collision sets are improperly or not fully defined, the user may see unexpected motion paths in the results.

  • All collisions set up and enabled by the PS collision sets feature will be set as a hard collision rule in the engine. The engine will never violate a hard rule.
  • The Near Miss value associated with the collision set will be converted to a clearance rule in the project.yaml. Clearance rules are soft rules which that will not be violated unless required.
    • For any Collision Sets that have process points near them, it is highly recommended to use a Near Miss value < 2mm.
    • Note: Please take care when setting near miss values. After running many studies through Resolver, our customer success team has noted that humans often do not adhere to their own clearance rules when making paths.
      • Example: A short distance between two spot welds where a human would not place a via between the depart of the first weld and approach of the second weld. If this is a planned path in Resolver and the depart position violates a near miss value, the engine will add a via between the two welds to attempt to move out the weld gun out of clearance violation.
  • Minimum recommended collision sets:
    • Robot-Robot: Collision sets between robots. Resolver supports a single clearance rule for all robots in the study. Therefore, it will use the largest robot-robot near miss value found in all collision sets.
    • Robot-Scene: Collision sets between robots and static objects in the scene. If you see results with collisions, it is typically because an object was not included in a collision set.
      • Note: Many customers like to use more granular collision sets such as robot-structural, robot-jig, robot-part, tool-part. This allows for individual clearance rules for each collision set.
    • Robot-(Tool+RTU): This is a self-collision set. If your application will generate motions where the robot must tuck close to itself, it is recommended to setup a collision set that prevents self-collisions.
  • In PS Connector 1.28.0 and later, the Collision Set Generator can build these sets for you. On its Manage tab you choose which generated and user-defined sets are enabled, and only enabled sets go into the export.

Collision Viewer

Other applications can be supported as a service with the assistance of an RTR Application Engineer. Please enter a support ticket if you are unsure if your study is supported or would like to run a study that is outside of current tool support.

Only Export Visible Objects in Collision Sets​

Only export visible objects in collision sets, in Settings → Export, controls whether hidden objects are exported. When enabled, hidden objects or objects that are not in any collision set will not be exported.

Only export visible objects in collision sets in Settings, Export tab

Dynamics Calibration​

Dynamics calibration runs the robot through a series of motions to determine all joint dynamics for both joint and linear motion. The motion planner that is selected at time of export will be what is used to perform Dynamics Calibration.

  • Always use an RCS motion planner if available. The estimated cycle time and dynamics can be drastically different if, for example, MOP is selected during export and RCS is used later.

Example RCS Controller Selection

  • Solutions from Resolver can be greatly affected by dynamics, especially if there are many robot-robot deconfliction zones. If dynamics are not correctly encoded, please ensure the proper RCS connections have been made and re-run the dynamics calibration.
  • Dynamics calibration takes time, but typically only needs to be done once per robot. Therefore, the dynamics will, by default, be cached locally on your machine and re-used for future exports.

Use cached robot dynamic data in Settings, Export tab

Executing Paths with MOP Motion Planner
RTR generated paths follow the same general concept that real robot controllers follow for synchronizing joints to reach the goal target at the same time. The MOP motion planner, however, does not exhibit this behavior by default. Collisions may be present in the path without properly setting the single_joint_prof parameter in the motionparameters.e file of the robot controller. From the Process Simulate motionparameters.e manual:

Single Joint Prof Description

To match predicted movement by RTR and other robot manufacturers, please add the line single_joint_prof single_prof; to the motionparameters.e file.

Exporting Operations​

Currently, Resolver is designed to export multiple operations or compound operations in Standard Mode. All exported operations will use any defined links (in Sequence Editor) between operations to determine precedence constraints. Some rules that apply to the operations selected:

  • Only targets that the robot must reach should be included. Typically, this includes only the process points, but may also include a via if the process requires a stop at that pose. The path between each location sent to Resolver will be planned, unless specified as "direct" in the cloud UI.
  • Every robot with operations must have a start and end pose defined. The exporter uses the implied start and end poses from the first and last locations in the robot's sequence of operations.
  • If an operation has a robot assigned to it (can be checked in Operation->Properties->Process tab), a reachability check will be performed before export. If no configuration is defined by the user, the exporter will use whichever configuration the Process Simulate API selects with the "jump" function. The configuration, of course, can be optimized by Resolver if enabled through the cloud UI.
  • If an operation is exported that has no robot assigned to it, the exporter assumes that all exported robots (still required to have start/end target defined) are allowed to reach that target. This is a common way to set up a "robot allocation" problem.
  • Target order will be maintained in the results if Optimize Target Order is not selected.

  1. Please ensure the RTR Resolver Viewer is visible. If not, select it from the Viewers button on the ribbon.

    Add from Viewers button

    Select the Export tab to open the Export to Resolver dialog:

    Export to Resolver dialog

  2. If you have not selected your Cloud region yet, click the gear icon in the top right of the RTR Resolver Viewer and select Settings... from the menu.

    Gear icon menu

    Then under the General tab, choose Select a Cloud Region. This is a persistent setting, not chosen per export.

    • Europe — for the Europe region.
    • Global — for the Americas, APAC, and all other regions.

    Select a Cloud Region in Settings

  3. In the Export section, give the export a Name (name of study). Optionally, add a Description (up to 2000 characters).

  4. Choose where the study lands in Resolver. In the Resolver location dialog, navigate to the folder holding your work and select a CellThe level of the Resolver project tree that holds Studies. Connectors export to a cell; folders and projects are not valid export targets.. Select stays disabled until a cell is highlighted, because folders and projects are not valid export targets.

    • Create a nested folder or a new cell from the same dialog.
    • Hover an item to reach its delete control. You can only delete folders and cells that you own, and the dialog explains why a delete did not go through.

  5. The Output folder is where a local copy of the exported .zip is saved. It only applies when Automatically connect to the Cloud is off, or Save a local copy of export and allow import of local files is checked, in Settings → General. It defaults to your Documents folder, and can be changed permanently under Default output folder in Settings → General.

  6. Add operations or compound operations you would like to export by selecting from the Operations Tree and then clicking the +Add button in the Export section.

  7. Collision Set highlighting helps verify your collision sets are set up correctly, directly in the 3D view. Click the icon to cycle through three modes: normal (no highlighting), highlighting objects that are in an active collision set, then highlighting objects with geometry that are not in any active collision set.

  8. The Exporter moves the robots through a series of locations using the robot controller currently selected, tracking the motions to record the dynamics of the joints — see Dynamics Calibration above for the Settings → Export option that controls this. Weld guns are also actuated at welds to capture task time at the process point. These values are embedded into the queries.json and are used by the Resolver engine to give a more accurate prediction of cycle time.

  9. Select the robot OEM to specify which controller-specific smoothing options should be used. By default all of them are included. You can deselect any options that you don't want Resolver to use.

    Note: The FINE option cannot be unchecked because it is required for interlocking at newly generated via locations.

  10. Click Export to export and automatically upload the study to the cloud.