Manual

Detailed Descriptions of ACL Commands 3-17
Erasing a single Download Sequence can take as long as 1.5 seconds if the download
memory is nearly full. The fastest way to re- download all of the sequences in the machine
is to first erase all old sequences via
ESC.!7:, then send the new versions of the sequences.
Where long Download Sequences are involved, after the ED command your program should
send an OE ("Output Error Code"), read the result back, and display it on the screen. This
serves two purposes: it tells you that the downloading is complete so it is OK to turn off the
power; and it tells you whether your sequence was too large for the available memory. (If it
was, you will get a nonzero error code.)
Example: the command sequence BD; FH; MA 2000, 2000; AR 1000, 0, 360; ED; sets
up Download Sequence 0 to be a Find Home, a Move Absolute, and an Arc Relative. After
sending this sequence, press the FAST button and, while holding it, press the PAUSE button.
The sequence will execute once. Disconnect the host computer or turn the Automove
System's power off, then back on. Press FAST/PAUSE again, and the sequence will execute
again.
BP [<angle>] Begin Pattern
This command denotes the beginning of a pattern. All ACL commands following this
command, up until the next EP ("End Pattern") command, are part of this pattern.
The <angle> parameter is optional. If specified, it sets a rotation angle, in degrees, to be
applied to all XY motion commands within the pattern. The range of <angle> is
-32768.0000 through 32767.9999. Rotations less than zero or greater than 359.9999 degrees
are reduced modulo 360 to the corresponding angle in the range 0 through 359.9999 degrees.
The rotation is centered at the current Origin. If you do not execute an SO ("Set Origin")
command or press the Set Origin button while the pattern is executing then the center of
rotation is wherever the carriage was when the BP was executed.
The rotation angle is relative to any current rotation. This means that nested patterns may
use nested rotations. At the next EP ("End Pattern") command the System reinstates
whatever rotation angle was in effect before the BP was executed.
The rotation is performed in Calibrated Units space; i.e., before calibration factors or
linearity correction are applied.
Why Use Patterns?
Patterns are useful for step-and-repeat operations where a sequence of moves is repeated
identically in several places. Step-and- repeat could be done using relative moves (i.e. MR
and AR commands) but it is easier to create, debug, and modify a motion sequence using
absolute moves (MA and AA commands).
Patterns allow you to create a move sequence using absolute moves (for example, by
teaching the points) and then later translate the move sequence to a different location without
changing the parameters of the MA and AA commands. This can be very useful in
downloaded sequences.