A review of current research in 3-D machine vision and robot accuracy

It has been shown that the major contributor to down time in robot automated production lines is error in positioning. The faults that cause such errors can be corrected for provided they are identified early enough. Conventional instrumentation, such as displacement measurement probes, is unsuitable for the task, since the number of fixed transducers results in high costs. This review supports a programme of research to measure robot position and repeatability using a non-invasive optical technique based on photogrammetric principles. This paper reviews the following areas: 1. General 3-D machine vision. 2. Photogrammetry and camera calibration. 3. Robot accuracy.