Basic Guide

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Contents
Basic Guide ....................................................................................................................................................... 2
3D Navigation ................................................................................................................................................ 3
Getting Started ............................................................................................................................................... 4
Toolbar Menu ................................................................................................................................................. 5
Shortcuts........................................................................................................................................................ 6
Reference Frames ......................................................................................................................................... 7
Set Default Settings ..................................................................................................................................... 10
Basic Guide
RoboDK is software for Simulation and Offline Programming. Offline Programming means that robot programs
can be created, simulated and generated offline for a specific robot arm and robot controller.
Tip: When you press F1 from RoboDK, the Help topic related to the item currently selected or active is
displayed.
This document is a basic guide to the RoboDK documentation. The RoboDK documentation is based on the
Windows version of RoboDK. Mac, Linux and Android versions are also available.
A shortcut is created on your desktop when RoboDK is installed from the website. Double click the shortcut to

start RoboDK.
The RoboDK window contains a Main Menu, a Toolbar, a Status Bar and the Main Screen. The Station Tree in
the Main Screen contains all the items available in the station, such as robots, reference frames, tools,
programs, etc. More information available in the Interface Section.

Select File Open to load one of the RoboDK station examples provided by default (RDK files).
Alternatively, drag & drop a file to the RoboDK main screen to load it.
A library of industrial robots is available online or directly from the RoboDK application.

Throughout all RoboDK documentation, clicks on the screen are represented by the following icons:

Left click Right click Double click

General Tips 2
 3D Navigation
It is recommended to use a 3-button mouse to navigate in 3D. Alternatively, it is possible to use a combination
of Ctrl, Alt and Shift keys with a simple mouse left click perform Pan, Rotate or Zoom motions:
Select Pan Rotate Zoom

Left click Hold mid button Hold right click Move mouse wheel
Hold Ctrl to select Hold Ctrl + Alt Hold Ctrl + Shift Hold Shift
more than and and and
one object select select select

Tip: The default behavior for 3D mouse navigation can be changed in ToolsOptionsGeneral tabMouse
3D navigation.
Right click on the main screen to see the same 3D navigation commands.

Tip: Right click on the toolbar area and check View and Selection toolbar to display these commands in the
toolbar:

General Tips 3
 Getting Started
The Getting Started section shows how to build a simple project offline for a robot painting application in
RoboDK using a UR10 robot. The example provides a general overview of some of the key features of
RoboDK for Simulation and Offline Programming, including:

o How to Load a Robot from the Online Library

o How to Add Reference Frames
o How to Load Objects
o How to Add Tools
o How to Add Targets
o How to Create Programs offline and simulate them
o How to Generate a program for the robot controller and select a post processor
o How to Export a simulation to share them as in 3D HTML or 3D PDF
This example is available in the RoboDK library by default as Tutorial-UR-Painting.rdk (located by default in
C:/RoboDK/Library/).

General Tips 4
 Toolbar Menu
The Toolbar contains graphical icons that allow quick access to frequently used actions in the menu.
Tip: Select ToolsToolbar LayoutSet Default Toolbar to set up the default toolbar.
The following commands are available in the toolbar by default.
Open
Load a new file (RoboDK RDK Station) or a supported file type (robot,
tool, STEP, IGES, STL, …)
Open online library
Show the online library (robots, tools and sample objects)
Save Station
Save the RoboDK station (RDK file)
Undo
Undo the last command (Ctrl+Z)
Redo
Redo the last command (Ctrl+Y)
Add a reference frame
Reference frames allow placing objects with respect to each other
Add a new target
Robot targets record robot positions with respect to a reference frame or
in joint coordinates
Fit All
Update the 3D view to display all items
Isometric View
Display the default 3D isometric view

Move reference Frames

Move a reference frame by dragging it on the screen (hold Alt)
Move TCP (robot tool)
Move a robot TCP by dragging it on the screen (hold Alt+Shift)
Check collisions
Activate or deactivate collision checking. More information available
regarding collision checking in the Collisions section
Fast simulation
Accelerate the simulation speed (hold the space bar)
Pause simulation
The simulation can be resumed by pressing the space bar
Add Program
Add a new robot program for simulation and program generation
Add Python Program
Add a new Python macro
Move Joint Instruction
Add a new joint movement instruction

General Tips 5
 Move Linear Instruction
Add a new linear movement instruction
Export Simulation
Export a program or simulation as a 3D PDF or 3D HTML file. Example.
Note: More information about other commands in the Interface section.

Shortcuts
The following list provides useful shortcuts and their equivalent buttons in the toolbar:
Alt Move a reference frame

Alt+Shift Move a TCP (tool)

F1 Show this help guide

F2 Rename item
F6 Generate selected program(s)

F7 Show/hide selected item(s)

Alt+0 Fit to selected item(s)

Ctrl+1 Load last file or RoboDK station

/ Show/hide text on screen
+ Make Reference frames bigger
− Make Reference frames smaller
* Show/hide robot workspace
Tip: Press the + key or – key multiple times to make the reference frames bigger or smaller respectively.
Setting an appropriate size of the reference frames helps grabbing them properly when they are moved using
the Alt key.

General Tips 6
 Reference Frames
A Reference Frame defines the location of an item with respect to another item with a given position and
orientation. An item can be an object, a robot or another reference frame. All Offline Programming applications
require defining a reference frame to locate the object with respect to a robot to update the simulation
accordingly.
Drag & drop any reference frame or object within the Station Tree to define a specific relationship, such as the
nested reference frame shown in the following image.
It is common to define the location of one or more reference frames with respect to the robot by touching 3
points. This allows placing objects in the virtual space. The procedure can be accomplished using the robot
teach pendant or RoboDK (more information available in the Calibrate Reference Frame section).
Tip: Hold the Alt key to move reference frames with respect to each other. Alternatively, select the
corresponding button in the toolbar: .
With RoboDK it is possible to manually enter the translation and rotation values, including different rotation
orders of the Euler angles.

Note: The relationship of one reference frame with respect to another reference frame is also known as pose
(position and orientation). A pose can be represented by the XYZ position and Euler angles for the orientation,
by the XYZ position and Quaternion values or by a 4x4 matrix.
By default, RoboDK displays the relationship as the XYZ position and the Euler angles in the XYZ format.
This means the rotation is made in the following order:
1. First: a rotation is made around the X axis (light blue case)
2. Second: a rotation is made around the static Y axis (pink case)
3. Third: a rotation is made around the static Z axis (yellow case).
Fanuc and Motoman controllers use the previously described format, however, other robot manufacturers
handle the rotation order in a different way.
Note: RoboDK automatically selects the right format for each robot.
It is possible to select among different orientation formats from the dropdown list of the reference frame details
window (double click a reference frame).

General Tips 7
Tip: When a program is generated, RoboDK will automatically generate the correct orientation values required
by your robot controller (using a post processor).

For example, Staubli robots use the XY’Z’’ order, or KUKA and Nachi robots use ZY’X’’. On the other
hand, ABB controllers use Quaternion values, which require 4 values to define the rotation:

It is also possible to manually enter a customized format. For example, the following command is displayed
when the Custom option is selected:

Tip: Select the buttons on the right to copy/paste the values from/to an array of values or as a 4x4 pose. It is
also possible to invert a transformation (pose inverse) or reset it (set the identity).

General Tips 8
Note: Select the default Euler orientation in the Options menu: Select Tools-Options-General tab-Default Euler
Angles mode.

General Tips 9
 Set Default Settings
Select ToolsOptions and select Set Default Settings to set the default settings. More information available
in the Options Menu Section.
Select ToolsLanguage and select English to change the language to English.
Select ToolsToolbar LayoutSet Default Toolbar to set up the default toolbar.
Select ToolsOptionsOtherSet default Python Settings to set up the default Python settings and copy
the robolink and robodk modules in the Python path. More information in the RoboDK API section.
Important: RoboDK requires updated graphic card drivers with support for OpenGL v3.2 or later.

Having trouble starting RoboDK?

RoboDK might not start when using a Remote Desktop connection or if you are running RoboDK on a virtual
PC. To solve this problem, start RoboDK by double clicking the following file:
C:/RoboDK/RoboDK-Safe-Start.bat

Starting RoboDK with this command does not require a graphic card as it uses a software emulated OpenGL.
This solves any problems when running RoboDK using a Remote Desktop connection or a Virtual connection.

General Tips 10