VAL-II: Basic Commands and Programming Structure

VAL-II is the enhanced version of VAL (Unimation/Staubli). It added real-time sensor integration, vision interface, arrays, subroutines and better program control, while keeping VAL's simple syntax.

Basic commands

Category	Commands
Motion	MOVE, MOVES (straight line), APPRO, DEPART, DRIVE
Location definition	HERE, SET, POINT, SETI
Gripper	OPEN, CLOSE, OPENI, CLOSEI
Speed / accuracy	SPEED, ACCEL, ACCURACY
Program control	IF ... THEN, GOTO, CALL, RETURN, FOR, WHILE, PAUSE, STOP
I/O	SIGNAL, WAIT, SIG()
Timing	DELAY

Program structure

Example

.PROGRAM stack()
  SPEED 40
  FOR i = 1 TO 3
    APPRO pick, 50
    MOVES pick
    CLOSE
    DEPART 50
    CALL place(i)
  END
.END

Improvements over VAL

• Structured control (FOR, WHILE, IF-THEN-ELSE).
• Subroutines with CALL.
• Multitasking and sensor-based control.

Exam tip

Write command table by category and one example program with a loop and a subroutine call.