Modeless robots calibration in 3D workspace with an on-line fuzzy interpolation technique

Robot calibration techniques can be classified into model-based and modeless methods. A model-based calibration method normally requires that the practitioners understand the kinematics of the robot therefore may pose a challenger for field engineers. An alternative yet effective means for robot calibration is to use a modeless method; however with such a method there is a conflict between the calibration accuracy of the robot and the number of grid points used in the calibration task. In this paper, a novel fuzzy interpolation method is applied to improve the compensation accuracy of the robot in its 3D workspace. An on-line fuzzy inference system is implemented to meet the needs of online robot trajectory planning and control. The simulated results given in this paper show that not only robot compensation accuracy can be greatly improved with this fuzzy interpolation method, but also the calibration process can be significantly simplified therefore it is suitable for practical applications.