Measuring the intersection of a thrown object with a vertical plane

This work is part of a project that investigates a new approach for material transport within manufacturing systems by throwing or shooting. Such material transport systems includes both throwing and catching of workpieces by robots. In production processes objects can be thrown with high velocity over distances of several meters. High accuracy in throwing and catching is important. Here, two alternative methods are presented for measuring the accuracy of predictions of interception positions used by the catching robot. The first measurement method presented uses a single triggered gray-value camera to determine the actual interception position. The second method bases on a Dispersive Signal Technology (DST) touch kit. Measurement techniques and the accuracies of these systems are presented in this paper.