Warning

You are reading the documentation for an older Pickit release (2.3). Documentation for the latest release (3.4) can be found here.

Calibration

Robot-camera calibration

Robot-camera calibration is the process where the camera and the robot learn their relative position with respect to each other. If done correctly, the camera can guide the robot to correct positions in the physical environment. Calibration can be performed once the camera and robot have been mounted in the work cell. This process only needs to be repeated if the camera is moved relative to the robot base, or vice-versa.

Related articles:

Tip

You can learn about the main ideas behind multi poses robot-camera calibration by watching this video tutorial.

Warning

Wrong or old calibration parameters can lead to unexpected motions. Safe motions of the robot must always be checked by the operator of the robot itself and can never be guaranteed by Pickit.

There are two possible ways to perform robot-camera calibration: the multi poses and the single pose method. Both options are briefly described below.

Multi poses calibration

The multi poses method consists of having the robot showing the calibration plate to Pickit five times. This option is recommended, as it imposes no restrictions on the camera mount, or on how the calibration plate is fixed to the robot flange.

Note

Go to the Multi poses calibration article for a step-by-step tutorial.

Single pose calibration

As the name suggests, the single pose method requires having the robot showing the plate to the camera only once. However, this option can only be executed if the following restrictions are met:

  1. The Pickit camera must be fixed at a stationary location, and cannot be mounted on the robot flange.

  2. The robot must have a supported type of flange:

    • ISO 9409-1-50-4-M6 (50 mm width)

    • ISO 9409-1-31.5-4-M5 (31 mm width)

  3. The calibration plate must be mounted on the robot flange exactly as described in Installing the Pickit calibration plate.

Note

Go to the Single pose calibration article for detailed instructions.

Warning

If after calibration the Pickit camera has been relocated or rotated relatively to the robot base, a new robot-camera calibration is required before picking, even if the motion was small.

Important

After finishing robot-camera calibration, don’t forget to check the calibration result. Go to Checking robot-camera calibration to know how.