Application Note: Custom Delta Robot Motor Tuning

APPLICATION NOTE
Title: Custom Delta Robot Motor Tuning

Product(s): MP3200iec-RBT, MP3300iec-RBT, MotionWorks
Doc. No. AN.MP3300iec.02
IEC
Application Overview
This application note provides an overview of steps and an example to tune the three arm
motors for a custom delta robot. Before using this application note, it is assumed that the
user has properly configured the delta robot in Hardware Configuration, homed the motors,
and is able to move the robot in Machine Coordinate System (MCS) properly. The main
goal of tuning the motors should be to minimize vibration (hardware vibrations, motor torque
ripples) since it is typically the limiting factor in getting higher throughput.
The main strategy has the following steps to tune the three arm axes:
 Use SigmaWin+ to find the inertia ratio
 Use SigmaWin+ autotuning to find tuning gains as starting point.
 Manual tuning of gains after getting initial values from SigmaWin+
 Find a suitable torque feedforward using Torque Passthrough delta

parameter.
 The theta axis is much easier, and can typically be tuned like a regular
motor.
This is meant to be a general guide of possible steps, and the user may need to slightly
deviate from it depending on the needs of their mechanism and application.
Products Used
Component Product and Model Number
Servopack Sigma5 or Sigma7
Motor Sigma5 or Sigma7
Controller MP3300iec-RBT, MP3200iec-RBT
Firmware 3.3 or higher
Delta Robot Any simple delta robot with kinematics supported by Hardware Configuration
Revision 1 November 16, 2017 Page 1 of 34

APPLICATION NOTE

IEC
Implementation
CAUTION
 When using SigmaWin+ for inertia finding or auto tuning, the motor controlled by
SigmaWin+ will move as specified by the inputs to the SigmaWin+ routines. Ensure that
the mechanism will have enough space to not crash.
 When doing manual tuning using a defined path, ensure that the application in
MotionWorksIEC commands a path that the mechanism can follow without crashing.
 This tuning procedure assumes homing of each axis and is already done and delta
mechanism is configured properly in Hardware Configuration in MotionWorksIEC.
 Yaskawa is not responsible for damange to mechanism or damage caused by mechanism
during this procedure.
Before starting, make sure the robot motors are in a good position to avoid obstacles or
collisions. The inertia ratio finding and auto tuning routine typically require less than two
motor revolutions of movement. Typically, motor positions of 0 degrees is a good starting
point. Open SigmaWin+, and connect to S L or U motor
 Suggested Non-Tuning Parameters

The following is a list of parameters not related to tuning, that may help the robot run
smoother.
 Pn109 Feed Forward Gain – Setting to 100 may help for, especially with
1310 disabled
 Pn10A Feed Forward Filter Constant – Setting to mechatrolink rate may

help especially with 1310 disabled.
 Pn30C Torque feedforward average moving time – Only available for

Sigma7 servopacks. Set to Mechatrolink cycle.
 Pn426 Speed feedforward average moving time – Only available for

Sigma7 servopacks. Set to Mechatrolink cycle

APPLICATION NOTE

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 Pn506 Brake reference servo OFF delay time – When servo off is
commanded, keep power on for some time until brake is engaged. Set to
150ms
 Pn600 Regenerative resistor capacity – Set to external regenerative

resistor if necessary
 Pn812 Moving average time – Set to Mechatrolink cycle
 1300 Moving average filter 1 enable – Sets a position moving average

filter on axis command positions. Set to TRUE.
 1301 Moving average filter 1 time constant – Time constant of the

position moving average filter. This effectively causes a time delay on all
move commands, but will smooth out jerk and vibration. Set to 0.05.
 1310 Velocity feedforward enable/disable – Enable for Sigma7, disable

for Sigma5
 1311 Drive motion command option Accfil value – Subinterpolation of

position commands by drive. Set to 2.

APPLICATION NOTE

IEC
 Find Inertia Ratio

The inertia finding tool in SigmaWin+ can provide an estimate of inertia ratio for Pn103.
 It is sometimes helpful to increase Pn520 to a large value in order for the

automatic calculations to complete. Go to the Edit Parameters window from
the menu.
FIGURE 1 EDIT PARAMETERS MENU IN SIGMAWIN+

APPLICATION NOTE

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 Edit Pn520 to some large value. Default is 5242880 units, which should be
fine for a SigmaV motor. For a Sigma7 motor, a larger value like 15000000
units may be necessary. Select the Write Edited Parameters From the
SERVOPACK to save the new value.
FIGURE 2 EDIT PN520

APPLICATION NOTE

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 Go to the Tuning menu.
FIGURE 3 TUNING MENU IN SIGMAWIN+

APPLICATION NOTE

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 Execute the inertia ratio identification routine.
FIGURE 4 TUNING FUNCTION IN SIGMAWIN+

APPLICATION NOTE

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 Edit the Condition Settings of the inertia ratio finding routine. Typically a
low Acceleration and Speed has a higher chance of completion. A higher
than default value (400) of Pn100 may also need to be used. Click Next to
go to Reference Transmission.
FIGURE 5 SETTINGS FOR INERTIA RATIO ROUTINE

APPLICATION NOTE

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 On Reference Transmission, click Start, then Next.
FIGURE 6 BEGIN INERTIA RATIO ROUTINE

APPLICATION NOTE

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 In Operation/Measurement, click Servo On, then Forward, and Backward

until inertia ratio is found, then click Next
FIGURE 7 OPERATION OF INERTIA ROUTINE

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 In Write Results, Select Write Results, then Finish.
FIGURE 8 WRITE RESULTS OF INERTIA ROUTINE WHEN FINISHED
 Follow prompts to do a SERVOPACK soft reset.

APPLICATION NOTE

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 When clicking Forward or Backward, an error may be encountered. If this

error comes up, either increase the torque limit of the motor (Pn402/403) or
lower the Acceleration and Speed on the Condition Setting before repeating.
FIGURE 9 POSSIBLE ERROR MESSAGE DURING INERTIA ROUTINE

APPLICATION NOTE

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 Autotuning
After finding an inertia ratio, the autotuning function in SigmaWin+ provides a good starting
point for motor gains and tuning parameters.
 To go the Tuning menu in SigmaWin+. Select No Reference Input then

Autotuning button. Using a reference input is fine too, but it was not used in
this example.
FIGURE 10 TUNING FUNCTION FOR AUTOTUNING

APPLICATION NOTE

IEC
 In the Autotuning – Settings Conditions window
 Select 1: A moment of inertia ratio is not presumed for

Switching the load moment of inertia (load mass) identification.
This is because inertia was already found in a previous step.
 Select 1: Standard for Mode Selection.
 Select 1: Belt mechanism for Mechanism Selection.
 Set a distance. 20000 was used in this example using a Sigma7

motor. Make sure the distance set will not crash the robot. In this
example, there is much more free space than 1.2 rotations of
motor.
 Click Next when done
FIGURE 11 AUTOTUNING SETTINGS

APPLICATION NOTE

IEC
 In the Autotuning – Automatic settings window, click Servo ON, then

Start tuning. Click Yes on warning for Please check safety near an
operation part to begin autotuning.
FIGURE 12 AUTOTUING OPERATION

APPLICATION NOTE

IEC
FIGURE 13 WARNING WHEN STARTING AUTOTUNING
 Autotuning may be aborted due to some possible causes, and there may be
an alarm on the drive. Deal with and clear the alarm. It may be necessary to
increase the value of Pn520 (Excessive Position Error Alarm Level), Pn522
(Position Completed Width), or Pn402/403 (Torque limits). In this example,
Pn520 = 15000000 and Pn522 = 1000 was used for a Sigma7 motor.
Pn520 = 5242880 and Pn522 = 70 be used for a Sigma5 motor. Other
values may work as well.
FIGURE 14 POSSIBLE ERROR MESSAGE WHEN AUTOTUNING

APPLICATION NOTE

IEC
 Restart the autotuning routine with the same settings as before. Allow the
tuning routine to complete. Click Finish to exit. The tuning parameters are
now saved.
FIGURE 15 AUTOTUNING ROUTINE FINISH SUCCESSFULLY
 Reset Pn520 and Pn522 back to something reasonable. For Sigma7

motors, Pn520=500000 and Pn522=100 can be used. For Sigma5
motors, Pn520=30000 and Pn522=7 can be used. Note that Pn520 may
need to be increased later on if accelerations are high.
 Power cycle the controller and drives.

APPLICATION NOTE

IEC
 Copy the parameters of this arm motor into the other 2 arm motors. Can do
it though SigmaWin+ or MotionWorksIEC.

APPLICATION NOTE

IEC
 Manual Tuning
After finishing autotuning, some manual tuning may be required to get rid of excess
vibration or torque ripples.
 Create a program in MotionWorksIEC to run a cyclic sample path at a slow

speed. It is recommended to have this path be similar to expected operation
with some payload attached. This example ran a simple pick and place path
through [200 200 950] -> [200 200 1050] -> 100ms Dwell -> [200 200 950] -
> [-200 -200 950] -> [-200 -200 1050] -> 100ms Dwell -> [-200 -200 950] ->
repeat. All the moves are blended, and with Velocity=1000mm/sec and
Acceleration=10000mm/sec^2
 Open SigmaWin+ and connect to an arm motor. Go into the Trace menu.
FIGURE 16 TRACE FROM MAIN MENU

APPLICATION NOTE

IEC
 On the Trace window, click Setup, then configure settings to record

Feedback Speed, Torque Reference, and Position Error. Set Sampling
Time to something that will capture a cycle of the move, with High-
precision trace checked. Use a Trigger based on rising edge of Feedback
Speed. Click OK to continue. On Trace window, Click Start to collect data.
FIGURE 17 TRACE WINDOW

APPLICATION NOTE

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FIGURE 18 TRACE SETTINGS

APPLICATION NOTE

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 The plot may look something like this with some torque ripple.
FIGURE 19 FEEDBACK SPEED, TORQUE REFERENCE, POSITION ERROR WITH AUTOTUNE PARAMETERS

APPLICATION NOTE

IEC
 Manually tune parameters in the Edit Parameters menu until satisfied with
amount of torque ripple and position error. Typically, editing Pn100, Pn101,
and Pn102 will be good enough. Keep in mind that the first priority is
minimizing vibration, which may shows up as torque ripples. High speed
video of the TCP would also be useful to ensure the payload is not vibrating
during moves. For Sigma5 servopacks, controller parameter 1310 may
need to be disabled. After tuning, the plots should show a smoother torque
profile and TCP vibration should be minimized.

APPLICATION NOTE

IEC
FIGURE 20 FEEDBACK SPEED, TORQUE REFERENCE, POSITION ERROR AFTER MANUAL TUNING
 Stop the move routine, save the parameters, and copy the parameters over
to the other two arm axes.

APPLICATION NOTE

IEC
 Power cycle controller and servopacks.
 Run sample path again and check SigmaWin+ on all arm axes to make sure
that the tuning is still satisfactory.
 If it is satisfactory, run the same sample path at higher speed. Check

SigmaWin+ again. If tuning is not satisfactory at high speed, do manual
tuning of parameters again while running at high speed. For pick and place
applications, position error values that correspond to less than 0.5 degrees
on the arm is typically good enough depending on accuracy required by
application.
 Sample plot of an arm axis when running the sample path at high speed.
7000mm/sec velocity, 120000mm/sec^2 acceleration after manual tuning. In
this data set, the max position error after converting to arm angle is about
0.45 degrees. (around 800000 units max position error, 24bit encoder for
Sigma7 motor, 38.5 gear ratio)

APPLICATION NOTE

IEC
FIGURE 21 FEEDBACK SPEED, TORQUE REFERENCE, POSITION ERROR AT HIGH SPEED

APPLICATION NOTE

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 Additional Performance Improvements: Torque Passthrough

Torque Passthrough is a kinematic parameter that is used to estimate torque feedforward
for the delta mechanism. It may help with lowering vibration and position error.
It is calculated as:
Torque(%Rated) = TorquePassthrough ∗ MotorAcceleration (rad/sec^2).
The full expanded calculation to solve for Torque Passthrough is follows:
Passthrough = RotorInertia(kg − m^2) ∗ InertiaRatio (∗ 100%) ∗ GearRatio ∗ PI/180

∗ 100/RatedTorque(N − m)
 Calculate an initial value of Torque Passthrough
 Enable Torque Passthrough in Hardware Configuration for the delta group

used. In the Set Kinematics tab of Hardware Configuration, scroll down to
the S L U Torque Passthrough parameters. Use the calculated value as a
starting point. Click OK when done.
FIGURE 22 TORQUE PASSTHROUGH IN THE SET KINEMATICS WINDOW

APPLICATION NOTE

IEC
 Save configuration and power cycle controller and SERVOPACKs.
 Run a sample path at a slow speed. The same path from manual tuning was
used.
 Use the Trace function in SigmaWin+ to plot Torque FeedForward,

Torque Reference, and Position Error. Check if Torque FeedForward
and Torque Reference have a high discrepancy and if Position Error is
getting better. In the sample plot, it is shown that the Torque FeedForward
is much lower than Torque Reference, but the Position Error has
decreased.

APPLICATION NOTE

IEC
FIGURE 23 LOW SPEED WITHOUT TORQUE PASSTHROUGH

APPLICATION NOTE

IEC
FIGURE 24 TORQUE PASSTHROUGH ENABLED WITH CALCULATED INITIAL VALUE

APPLICATION NOTE

IEC
 Since Torque Feedforward is much lower than Torque Reference, try

increasing the Torque Passthrough parameter again in Hardware
Configuration.
 After increasing Torque Passthrough parameter, there was decrease in

Position Error. Torque FeedForward and Torque Reference will not
match perfectly. It is typically better to have Torque FeedForward be lower
in magnitude than Torque Reference.

APPLICATION NOTE

IEC
FIGURE 25 INCREASED TORQUE PASSTHROUGH PARAMETER

APPLICATION NOTE

IEC
Run sample path at high speed, and plot Torque FeedForward, Torque Reference, and
Position Error, then compare to the previous plot before Torque Passthrough was
enabled. From the following plot, it shows that when Torque Passthrough was enabled,
Position Error has dropped significantly, from a maximum of 800,000 (after manual tuning)
units to 500,000 units.
FIGURE 26 EFFECT OF TORQUE PASSTHROUGH AT HIGH SPEED

APPLICATION NOTE

IEC
 Plot Torque FeedForward, Torque Reference, and Position error of the

other two arm axes to confirm that this is a good setting. Modify Torque
Passthrough until satisfied.

Application Note: Custom Delta Robot Motor Tuning

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APPLICATION NOTE

Title: Custom Delta Robot Motor Tuning

 Use SigmaWin+ autotuning to find tuning gains as starting point.

 Manual tuning of gains after getting initial values from SigmaWin+

 Find a suitable torque feedforward using Torque Passthrough delta

Component Product and Model Number

Servopack Sigma5 or Sigma7

Motor Sigma5 or Sigma7

Controller MP3300iec-RBT, MP3200iec-RBT

Firmware 3.3 or higher

Revision 1 November 16, 2017 Page 1 of 34

Title: Custom Delta Robot Motor Tuning

 Suggested Non-Tuning Parameters

 Pn10A Feed Forward Filter Constant – Setting to mechatrolink rate may

 Pn30C Torque feedforward average moving time – Only available for

 Pn426 Speed feedforward average moving time – Only available for

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Title: Custom Delta Robot Motor Tuning

 Pn600 Regenerative resistor capacity – Set to external regenerative

 Pn812 Moving average time – Set to Mechatrolink cycle

 1300 Moving average filter 1 enable – Sets a position moving average

 1301 Moving average filter 1 time constant – Time constant of the

 1310 Velocity feedforward enable/disable – Enable for Sigma7, disable

 1311 Drive motion command option Accfil value – Subinterpolation of

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Title: Custom Delta Robot Motor Tuning

 Find Inertia Ratio

 It is sometimes helpful to increase Pn520 to a large value in order for the

FIGURE 1 EDIT PARAMETERS MENU IN SIGMAWIN+

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Title: Custom Delta Robot Motor Tuning

FIGURE 2 EDIT PN520

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Title: Custom Delta Robot Motor Tuning

 Go to the Tuning menu.

FIGURE 3 TUNING MENU IN SIGMAWIN+

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Title: Custom Delta Robot Motor Tuning

 Execute the inertia ratio identification routine.

FIGURE 4 TUNING FUNCTION IN SIGMAWIN+

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Title: Custom Delta Robot Motor Tuning

FIGURE 5 SETTINGS FOR INERTIA RATIO ROUTINE

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Title: Custom Delta Robot Motor Tuning

 On Reference Transmission, click Start, then Next.

FIGURE 6 BEGIN INERTIA RATIO ROUTINE

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Title: Custom Delta Robot Motor Tuning

 In Operation/Measurement, click Servo On, then Forward, and Backward

FIGURE 7 OPERATION OF INERTIA ROUTINE

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Title: Custom Delta Robot Motor Tuning

 In Write Results, Select Write Results, then Finish.

FIGURE 8 WRITE RESULTS OF INERTIA ROUTINE WHEN FINISHED

 Follow prompts to do a SERVOPACK soft reset.

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Title: Custom Delta Robot Motor Tuning