Autonomous Calibration Research of Polishing Robot

This paper presents a robot autonomous calibration approach using a probe. The robot grips a simple probe automatically to touch constraint planes in a workspace (the locations of the constraint planes are not necessarily known exactly). The robot internal sensor measurements are recorded for kinematics calibration while the tip-point of the probe is in contact with the constraint plane. The kinematic constraint conditions are obtained from the known shape of the constraint surface, rather than from the measured reference locations in a workspace. This method eliminates any use of external measuring devices, and is suitable for a periodic robot re-calibration. Simulation results on a polishing robot show that this method can achieve the same calibration accuracy as that of the other traditional calibration approach such as geometrical parameter calibration.