The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for calibration of an
industrial robot system including at least one
robot (1) having a
robot coordinate
system (xr1,yr1,zr1) and a positioner (2) having a positioner coordinate
system (xp,yp,zp) and adapted to hold and change the orientation of a workpiece by rotating it about a
rotational axis. Target points for the
robot are programmed with respect to an object coordinate system (xo1,yo1,zo1). The apparatus comprising a
robot controller (3), at least three calibration objects (24a-c) arranged on the positioner, and a calibration tool (26) held by the robot. The positions of the calibration objects are known in the object coordinate system. The
robot controller is configured to determine the positions of the calibration objects with respect to the robot coordinate system, to determine the positions of a first (24a) and a second (24c) of said calibration objects for at least three different angles of the
rotational axis of the positioner, to determine the direction of the
rotational axis of the positioner in the robot coordinate system based on the determined positions of the first and second calibration objects for the three angles of the axis, and to determine the relation between the first object coordinate system and the positioner coordinate system by performing a best fit between the known and the determined positions of the calibration objects.