ABB industrial robots get Wizard programming

ABB has launched its Wizard Easy Programming software for its IRB 1100 industrial robot, allowing first-time users to introduce robotic automation into production lines without the need for specialist programming skills or any knowledge of RAPID code.

Based on simple graphical blocks, Wizard Easy Programming is claimed to make it easy for non-specialists to automate their applications. The blocks represent actions such as ‘move to location’, ‘pick up an object’, and ‘repeat movements’, making it straightforward and intuitive to build a series of simple processes for the robot to perform. There are also functions for error handling, allowing novice programmers to resolve errors such as collisions.

With Wizard Easy programming, ABB states that a robot can be up and running in minutes. The programming process is reduced to simply dragging and dropping the required block on the ABB FlexPendant, with the user able to see the results immediately and adjust the robot’s actions if required. By linking these blocks together, complete programmes can be built for applications such as machine tending or assembly, with no need for any knowledge of robot programming languages.

ABB’s Wizard Easy Programming software, which is already available for Single Arm YuMi®, is available for free and can be installed as an add-on, and it will be preloaded on the FlexPendant of every new IRB 1100. Wizard will become available on other selected ABB industrial robots in the future.

For companies with more specialised programming needs, new blocks can also be created to perform specific tasks. This is achieved through ABB’s Skill Creator software which ABB or its partners can use to turn standard RAPID programming routines into Wizard blocks, ready for use by non-programmers. The custom blocks, known as skills, can be produced to control specialized grippers or vision applications.

Skill Creator is a separate piece of software that can be downloaded here.