Bryce D Eldridge

20090118864, May 7, 2009

Nov 3, 2008

12/264159

Bryce Eldridge - Fort Collins CO, US
Steven G. Carey - Bellvue CO, US
Lance F. Guymon - Fort Collins CO, US

B25J 13/08
B25J 19/04

700259, 901 42, 901 47, 901 29

Disclosed is a method and system for finding a relationship between a tool-frame of a tool attached at a wrist of a robot and robot kinematics of the robot using an external camera. The position and orientation of the wrist of the robot define a wrist-frame for the robot that is known. The relationship of the tool-frame and/or the Tool Center Point (TCP) of the tool is initially unknown. For an embodiment, the camera captures an image of the tool. An appropriate point on the image is designated as the TCP of the tool. The robot is moved such that the wrist is placed into a plurality of poses. Each pose of the plurality of poses is constrained such that the TCP point on the image falls within a specified geometric constraint (e.g. a point or a line). A TCP of the tool relative to the wrist frame of the robot is calculated as a function of the specified geometric constraint and as a function of the position and orientation of the wrist for each pose of the plurality of poses. An embodiment may define the tool-frame relative to the wrist frame as the calculated TCP relative to the wrist frame. Other embodiments may further refine the calibration of the tool-frame to account for tool orientation and possibly for a tool operation direction. An embodiment may calibrate the camera using a simplified extrinsic technique that obtains the extrinsic parameters of the calibration, but not other calibration parameters.