An Accuracy Test Procedure for Robotic Manipulators Utilizing a Vision based, 3-D Position Sensing System

A vision based, three dimensional position sensing system was constructed and used to measure the positioning accuracy of an articulated robot arm. With a twenty-five millimeter lens, the sensor achieved a sensitivity of 0.004 inches for measurements along the focal axis of the camera and 0.001 inches for measurements perpendicular to the focal axis. The system was used to optically define a reference frame in the robot workspace and then to check the positioning accuracy of the manipulator as it was instructed to move within this reference frame.