Get Actual Robot Current

SUMMARY

Get Actual Robot Current returns the total current drawn by the robot's joint drives, as measured on the Safety Control Board. This represents the aggregate current on the 48V robot power rail.

Use this skill to monitor total power consumption and detect anomalous current draws.

SUPPORTED ROBOTS

This skill is currently supported on Universal Robots only. Calling this method on other robot brands will raise a NotImplementedError.

The Skill

current = robot.get_actual_robot_current()

The Code

Example: Read the Total Robot Current

Connect to the robot, read the total current, and log it.

from loguru import logger
from telekinesis.synapse.robots.manipulators import universal_robots

robot_ip = "192.168.1.2"  # replace with your robot's IP

robot = universal_robots.UniversalRobotsUR10E()
# Connect
robot.connect(ip=robot_ip)

c = robot.get_actual_robot_current()
logger.info(f"Robot current: {c:.3f} A")

# Disconnect
robot.disconnect()

The Explanation of the Code

get_actual_robot_current queries the RTDE receive interface for the total robot current measured on the Safety Control Board. The returned value is in amperes [A]. Use alongside Get Actual Robot Voltage to compute instantaneous power consumption.

How to Tune the Parameters

This skill takes no parameters.

Return Value

Type	Description
float	Total robot joint drive current [A].

Where to Use the Skill

• Power monitoring — Log current draw during high-load motions for energy analysis
• Overcurrent detection — Alert when total current exceeds expected thresholds

When Not to Use the Skill

Do not use Get Actual Robot Current when:

• You need per-joint motor currents — use Get Actual Joint Currents instead