Real time versatile robotics hand/eye calibration using 3D machine vision

A technique is described for computing 3-D position and orientation of a camera relative to the last joint of a robot manipulator in an eye-on-hand configuration. The calibration can be done within a fraction of a millisecond after the robot finishes the movement. The setup is simple (a planar set of calibration points arbitrarily placed on the work table, in addition to robot and camera) and is the same as that for a common camera calibration. This method is claimed to be faster, simpler, and more accurate than any existing technique for hand/eye calibration. Generic geometric properties of lemmas are presented, leading to the derivation of the final algorithms, which are aimed at simplicity, efficiency, and accuracy while giving ample geometric and algebraic insights. Besides describing the technique, critical factors influencing the accuracy are analysed, and procedures for improving accuracy are introduced. Tests results of both simulation and real experiments on an IBM Cartesian robot are reported