Simultaneous calibration of a robot and a hand-mounted camera

A method is presented for simultaneous calibration of a robot and a hand-mounted monocular camera. An algorithm solves for the kinematic parameters of the robot and camera in one stage, thus eliminating error propagation and improving noise sensitivities. Only two extra parameters are added to a robot calibration model to represent the camera geometry. With this addition, different levels of calibration can be accomplished under a unified framework. An error model relating image measurement residuals to kinematic parameter deviations is derived. This error model builds upon existing robot accuracy error models. Only one object point is needed to calibrate the robot-camera system, which facilitates autonomous implementation of the calibration scheme and the inclusion of radial distortion coefficient in the system model