Hand-eye calibration of arc welding robot and laser vision sensor through semidefinite programming

Purpose This paper aims to propose a hand-eye calibration method of arc welding robot and laser vision sensor by using semidefinite programming (SDP). Design/methodology/approach The conversion relationship between the pixel coordinate system and laser plane coordinate system is established on the basis of the mathematical model of three-dimensional measurement of laser vision sensor. In addition, the conversion relationship between the arc welding robot coordinate system and the laser vision sensor measurement coordinate system is also established on the basis of the hand-eye calibration model. The ordinary least square (OLS) is used to calculate the rotation matrix, and the SDP is used to identify the direction vectors of the rotation matrix to ensure their orthogonality. Findings The feasibility identification can reduce the calibration error, and ensure the orthogonality of the calibration results. More accurate calibration results can be obtained by combining OLS + SDP. Originality/value A set of advanced calibration methods is systematically established, which includes parameters calibration of laser vision sensor and hand-eye calibration of robots and sensors. For the hand-eye calibration, the physics feasibility problem of rotating matrix is creatively put forward, and is solved through SDP algorithm. High-precision calibration results provide a good foundation for future research on seam tracking.