Trace

Trace · PolyScope X

CAD-to-Path Trajectories for Universal Robots

License €1000 per robot · 30-day free trial

About

Trace is a URCap for Universal Robots that turns a CAD drawing into a robot path. Import a DXF from a USB stick, place it against a feature, and the robot follows the drawn contour — the tool held perpendicular to the surface — for dispensing, deburring, polishing, marking, cleaning or cutting along the line.

No CAM software, no offline programming, no manual waypoint teaching.

Why Trace?

Getting a robot to follow a shape — a glue bead, a weld seam, a chamfer, an inspection contour — usually means teaching dozens of waypoints by hand, or exporting from CAM and post-processing for the controller. Both are slow, and both have to be redone every time the drawing changes.

Trace uses the drawing you already have. Import the DXF, set where its zero point sits and which feature it belongs to, and the whole path is generated — speeds, blends, dwell, retract and tool orientation included. Change the drawing, re-import, and the program follows. And because the path is defined relative to a PolyScope Feature, it moves with the part — so it pairs naturally with Adjust.

Key Features

• Drawing to path in seconds — Import .dxf from USB; lines, arcs, polylines and splines become one robot trajectory. Fix source units, move the zero point, trim the start/stop, reverse a segment and set the run order — with a live preview.
• Perpendicular to the surface — The tool is held normal to the contour, including on tilted and 3D paths (surface normal computed from the geometry), with adjustable lean, tilt and tool-Z standoff.
• Feature-relative, so it moves with the part — The path plays relative to any PolyScope Feature / frame. Re-locate the feature (e.g. with Adjust) and the entire trajectory follows. No re-teaching.
• Full motion control — Path and approach speeds, accelerations, blend radius, and dwell at the start and stop of the path — all in the program node.
• Built-in tool triggering — Switch a named digital output on/off and run optional start / stop scripts at the right moment in the path (dispenser, laser, spindle, valve), with a per-step on/off toggle.
• A reusable path library — Keep a named library of trajectories reused across programs; break any segment out into its own trajectory when needed.

Built for jobs that follow a line

One program node, driven by your drawing:

Gluing & dispensing · Sealant beads · Deburring · Polishing · Marking & scribing · Laser / plasma · Cleaning · Inspection paths

Requirements

PolyScope X. Paths import as .dxf from a USB stick and run relative to a PolyScope Feature / frame. No camera, no CAM licence, no extra hardware.