Preparing the published article.
Factory Acceptance Test Checklist for a Robot Cell
A practical FAT checklist covering test scope, pass criteria, measurement records, backups and the shipment punch list for a robot cell.
Fix the Test Scope and Pass Criteria Before the Visit
A factory acceptance test is a planned event, not a demonstration. Send the integrator a scope document two weeks before the visit, listing every function you will witness, the pass criterion for each, and the evidence you will keep. Cover the power-up sequence, homing, manual jog, program start and stop, emergency stop from each station, safety gate and interlock behaviour, restart after a fault, part-present and part-absent handling, reject handling, and recovery from a jam. For each item, agree whether the criterion is a physical action, a signal at the PLC, a message on the HMI, or a recorded time. Add a line for the sequence after a power interruption: who resets what, in which order, and how the cell returns to a known state, because that sequence is usually learned only during the first breakdown.
Decide who attends and what authority each person holds. Name the person who can sign the test record, the person who can approve a deviation, and the person who owns the punch list. If a function cannot be tested because a fixture or a part is missing, that is a deviation, not a pass. Record it as open with an owner and a date rather than accepting a verbal promise that it will work on site. Agree in advance how many deviations are acceptable before the test is treated as failed and rescheduled, so the decision is not made under pressure on the last afternoon of the visit.
Measure and Document Instead of Watching
Bring your own instruments and your own parts. A stopwatch, a force gauge for grip checks, a calibrated scale for part mass, and a camera for photographing cable routing and label placement cost little and remove arguments later. Log at least thirty consecutive cycles and record the individual times, not only the average. Photograph the controller cabinet interior, terminal labels, cable entries and safety relay wiring before anything is packed, because the as-built wiring is often the only record you will hold. Ask the integrator to hand over the loop drawings and the terminal list before the cabinet is closed for shipment, and check that the labels on the drawing match the labels in the cabinet.
Record the software state precisely: controller firmware version, program revision identifier, safety configuration checksum, and a backup file you take away on your own media. Ask the integrator to demonstrate a restore from that backup onto the same controller, and note how long the restore took and what had to be re-entered by hand. A backup that has never been restored is an untested assumption. Also record which parameters are password-protected, who will hold the password, and what happens to access when that person leaves the project.
Turn Findings Into Shipment and Site Conditions
Write the punch list during the test, not after it. Each item needs a description, a severity, an owner, a due date, and the evidence that will close it. Separate items that block shipment from items that can be closed during commissioning, and make that separation explicit in the minutes. Then check the logistics you will need on arrival: lifting points and the weight of each module, whether the arm ships in a transport pose, which cables are coiled separately, and which components are packed inside the cabinet rather than mounted. Record the weight and dimensions of each shipping module on the same sheet, so your rigging and unloading plan is written before the truck arrives rather than improvised at the gate.
Finally, list the site prerequisites the test cannot prove: floor flatness and anchor positions, breaker rating and power quality, compressed air supply, network addresses, ambient dust and temperature, and the parts available on the day of installation. Ask the integrator to confirm each of these in writing before shipment, and schedule a short verification run on live parts after installation to confirm that the functions you witnessed still behave as recorded.
Photo credits: the images in this article are licensed reference photographs of the relevant robot class, credited with author and licence in each caption; they are not photographs of the specific equipment discussed. Licence and author details are recorded with each image.