Once the data for the homing procedure for each motor is defined, the homing sequences can be executed via: a program instruction that homes a single robot (Robot.Home); a program instruction that homes all robots in the system (Robot.HomeAll); a "Home Robot" button on the Operator Control Panel or the Virtual or Hardware Manual Control Pendant; or an automatic mode that can be triggered by the power sequencing logic or a digital IO signal.
To automatically home all of the robots when the system starts up, the "Auto home at startup " (DataID 212) switch should be turned on in the "controller.pac" system configuration file. This feature also requires that the robot power be configured to automatically enable.
It should be noted that while homing is required for the proper operation of a robot driven in position control mode, homing is not required if the robot is only controlled in torque or a special motor velocity control mode. However, in all modes of execution, motors must always be commutated.
Since a motor may not need to be homed, robot power can be turned on, program execution can be initiated and a GPL program can “Attach” a robot prior to it being homed. Power must always be turned on prior to initiating the execution of a homing sequence.