Robot Calibration Workflow for Multi-Component Workcells
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Solution Overview
Problem
The calibration of robotic systems is complex and often requires specialized knowledge, making it difficult for unskilled personnel to accurately calibrate robots and sensors in a workcell environment, leading to potential errors and safety issues.
Innovation Solution
A system that automatically determines and provides calibration processes through a user interface, using rules and machine learning models to generate calibration instruction data, allowing for accurate calibration of robots and sensors by reducing the need for manual expertise and enabling detection of calibration deviations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual pre-programming is used to schedule robotic movements, then the system can operate with simple control, but measurement errors accumulate and cause task failure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual pre-programming control with an automated vision-guided control system. Cameras capture images of objects and the environment, computer vision algorithms process these images to identify objects and their positions, and the robot controller automatically generates and adjusts movement schedules based on this visual data. This substitution eliminates manual programming errors and enables real-time correction of positioning inaccuracies, thereby improving robotic movement precision while maintaining operational simplicity.
2Measurement precision
If hand-eye calibration is performed in the operating environment, then calibration accuracy is optimized, but the process requires specialized knowledge and expertise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a self-service calibration system where the robot and sensors automatically perform hand-eye calibration without requiring external expert intervention. The system uses vision data from cameras to automatically determine the transformation between the robot's coordinate system and the camera's coordinate system. The calibration process is automated through software that guides the calibration steps, processes the visual data, and computes calibration parameters, thereby maintaining high calibration accuracy while eliminating the need for specialized knowledge.
3Reliability
If comprehensive calibration information is collected from multiple sources, then calibration knowledge is improved, but the complexity of managing and applying this information increases exponentially
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal calibration management system that handles multiple robot and sensor types through a single integrated platform. The system maintains a centralized database that stores calibration information for various robot models and sensor types, and provides a unified interface for managing all calibration data. This universal approach allows the system to handle diverse calibration requirements while maintaining consistent management procedures, thereby improving calibration knowledge quality without causing exponential complexity increases.
4Measurement precision
If automated calibration determination is implemented, then calibration accuracy increases, but the system complexity and computational requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by pre-computing and storing calibration processes in a structured database before they are needed. The system maintains a library of calibration procedures, transformation algorithms, and processing logic that have been developed and validated in advance. When calibration is required, the system simply retrieves and executes the pre-prepared calibration processes rather than computing them from scratch, thereby achieving high calibration accuracy while minimizing real-time computational complexity and system complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium that automatically calibrates robots and sensors assigned to perform a task in an operating environment. One of the methods includes obtaining a representation of a robotic operating environment. A user selection of a plurality of components to be configured to operate in the robotic operating environment is received. A mapping is obtained between pairs of components to be calibrated and one or more respective calibration processes to perform to calibrate each pair of components. From the mapping, one or more calibration processes to be performed on pairs of components based on the user selection of the plurality of components is computed. Calibration instruction data describing how to perform the one or more calibration processes to be performed on the pairs of components of the user selection is determined and presented.