Industrial robot calibration optimization method based on R-optimal criterion and improved IOOPS algorithm

Abstract In this paper, a novel kinematic parameter calibration method based on the R-optimal criterion and the improved iterative one-by-one pose search (IOOPS) algorithm is proposed to improve the end-effector positioning accuracy of industrial robots. First, a novel industrial robot error calibration model based on the product of exponential model and generalized error model is established, and the ideal pose transformation matrix from the robot base coordinate system to the laser tracker measurement coordinate system is obtained using the least-squares method, thereby obtaining the initial parameter vector of the robot calibration system. Second, various joint angle values at different positions within the robot’s workspace and the corresponding end-effector coordinate data, namely calibration sampling point data, are collected. Subsequently, the improved IOOPS algorithm combined with the observability index <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>O</mml:mi> <mml:mrow> <mml:mtext>R</mml:mtext> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:mrow> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> proposed by the R-optimal criterion is used to select the optimized calibration sampling points. Finally, the optimized sampling point data are combined with the Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm to optimize the parameters and obtain the optimal kinematic parameters. The experimental results show that the average end-effector error of the robot decreases from 0.5822 to 0.2492 mm after calibration using this method, demonstrating the effectiveness of the optimized sampling points in the calibration process achieved through the improved algorithm and the new observability index.