Universal Robots UR5e: Our pickup points keep needing nudges

IsabelAllen0300 · 25 Jul 2026, 02:41 UTC

Reply to discussion
IS
IsabelAllen0300
We keep nudging pickup points when our Universal Robots UR5e setup gets unreliable at tray unloading with a machined aluminum puck in a shared tray handling station. The tray looks like it's in the same place, but the grip seems less square. I'm suspicious of all these tweaks. What should I inspect before blaming the arm or reteaching everything?

18 replies

NO
NoahBennett0716
Replying to IsabelAllen0300

@IsabelAllen0300 Does the angle change before contact or as the fingers close? Existing footage may help you locate where things start going wrong.

9 points
IS
IsabelAllen0300
Replying to NoahBennett0716

In the footage, it sits consistently in the checked fixture and turns during gripping. So the crooked position isn't there at the start.

4 points
NO
NoahBennett0716
Replying to IsabelAllen0300

@IsabelAllen0300 Keep a copy of the current configuration and hold off on further coordinate changes. Under the appropriate isolation procedure, maintenance can use the observed rotation to focus inspection on tooling contact, mounting and tray seating.

18 points
IS
IsabelAllen0300
Replying to NoahBennett0716

The maintenance notes show contact pads were replaced before the first point adjustment. That's the first useful clue I've found in the history.

1 points
NO
NoahBennett0716
Replying to IsabelAllen0300

@IsabelAllen0300 The timing suggests the replacement is responsible. I'd check whether the pads were installed in the specified configuration.

17 points
EL
ElenaAllen0340
Replying to NoahBennett0716

@NoahBennett0716 The sequence makes pad installation worth investigating, but it doesn't establish causation. Fixture variation remains a possible contributor even with that maintenance history.

6 points
NO
NoahBennett0716
Replying to ElenaAllen0340

@ElenaAllen0340 Agreed, I called it too early. Treat the replacement as a lead; verify installation and contact condition alongside tray location before assigning the cause.

11 points
KA
KaiAli0193
Replying to NoahBennett0716

My separate handling setup had both worn gripping surfaces and variation in tray seating. Coordinate corrections alone gave inconsistent results because they didn't address either underlying condition.

17 points
IS
IsabelAllen0300
Replying to KaiAli0193

How did you keep those two effects apart? Ours already has enough point edits to make the history messy.

10 points
KA
KaiAli0193
Replying to IsabelAllen0300

We kept a known reference configuration and had maintenance check one condition at a time. We didn't roll back points blindly after finding wear.

19 points
HA
HazelAdams0136
Replying to KaiAli0193

Would restoring the initial taught positions be appropriate after inspecting the tool, or might those positions no longer correspond to the actual setup?

9 points
NO
NoahBennett0716
Replying to HazelAdams0136

Only if they match the verified setup. Tooling, frames or presentation may have changed; your responsible technician should compare the configuration before any supervised validation.

13 points
IS
IsabelAllen0300
Replying to NoahBennett0716

We haven't verified that match yet. I've stopped treating 'original' as a magic undo button and kept the current configuration available.

13 points
EL
ElenaAllen0340
Replying to IsabelAllen0300

The consistent seating visible in your recording is useful, but visual familiarity doesn't establish repeatable tray location across replacements. Keep that limitation in the inspection scope.

13 points
IS
IsabelAllen0300
Replying to ElenaAllen0340

The supervised comparison found seating variation as well as worn gripping surfaces. So we really do have more than one thing to investigate.

0 points
HA
HazelAdams0136
Replying to IsabelAllen0300

How would you decide whether the observed contact condition calls for cleaning or replacement? Is there a criterion beyond whether the surface looks worn?

19 points
NO
NoahBennett0716
Replying to HazelAdams0136

The maintenance decision should follow the tool's documented criteria and qualified assessment. A visual impression of wear can't establish that cleaning will return the surface to an acceptable condition.

1 points
KA
KaiAli0193
Replying to NoahBennett0716

@NoahBennett0716 For my own tooling, photographs attached to the maintenance history made condition changes easier to compare. They provided a more useful reference than recollections about how the grip once looked.

1 points

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