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Moving the robot by hand

An unpowered PAROL6 can be moved by hand: the joints turn against the friction of their gearboxes and belts, and the arm has no brakes to release. This is how you pose it for packing and how you lift it. Two rules:

Never more than one turn, except joint 6

No joint may ever be turned more than one full turn, by hand or by software. Cables and pneumatic tubes run through the joints, and a second turn wraps and tears them. The one exception is joint 6: with the bare flange it can turn without limit; with a gripper or a tool, the tool's cables and tubes wrap as it turns, and they set how far it may go. Joints 1 to 5 have printed blockers that stop them; on a build without them, the rule is yours to keep.

Joint 5 at its lower and upper limit, -120 and +120 degrees, over the standby pose in grey. A gripper can reach the forearm before that: check the clearance with a slow jog Joint 5 at its lower and upper limit, -120 and +120 degrees, over the standby pose in grey. A gripper can reach the forearm before that: check the clearance with a slow jog
Figure 2.3: Joint 5 at its lower and upper limit, -120 and +120 degrees, over the standby pose in grey. A gripper can reach the forearm before that: check the clearance with a slow jog.

Not while the supply is connected

A stepper turned by hand generates voltage, and a quick move can switch the board on with the arm in your hands. Unplug the power supply, or move slowly, and only toward the parked pose.

When the robot is powered

Do not force a powered joint. The motor holds it with its full holding current; what gives is a belt, a set screw or a printed part, and afterwards the position the software reports is wrong. To move a powered robot, jog it.

After moving by hand

The robot does not know it was moved: the firmware counts steps and sees none. Home again before any program or Cartesian move. The commander's position display and the simulator are wrong until you do.

Lifting

Bring the arm to the parked pose, joints 2 and 3 toward their limit switches so that the arm folds over the base, then lift by the base, not by the arm. Transport and storage has the packing.

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