Robust industrial robot real-time positioning system using VW-camera-space manipulation method

Abstract

Purpose

Vision-based positioning without camera calibration, using uncalibrated industrial robots, is a challenging research problem. To address the issue, an uncalibrated industrial robot real-time positioning system has been developed in this paper. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

The software and hardware of this system as well as the methodology are described. Direct and inverse kinematics equations that map joint space into “camera space” are developed. The camera-space manipulation (CSM) algorithm has been employed and improved with varying weights on camera samples of the robot end effector, and the improved CSM is named VW-CSM. The experiments of robot positioning have been conducted using the traditional CSM algorithm and the varying-weight CSM (VW-CSM) algorithm, respectively, both without separate camera calibration. The impact on the accuracy and real-time performance of the system caused by different weights has been examined and discussed.

Findings

The experimental results show that the accuracy and real-time performance of the system with the VW-CSM algorithm is better than the one with using the original CSM algorithm, and the impact on the accuracy and real-time performance of the system caused by different weights has been revealed.

Originality/value

The accuracy and real-time performance of the system with the VW-CSM algorithm is verified. These results prove that the developed system using the VW-CSM algorithm can satisfy the requirements of most industrial applications and can be widely used in the field of industrial robots.

Citation

Liu, Y., Shi, D. and Baard Skaar, S. (2014), "Robust industrial robot real-time positioning system using VW-camera-space manipulation method", Industrial Robot, Vol. 41 No. 1, pp. 70-81. https://doi.org/10.1108/IR-04-2013-340