Auto-calibration for a parallel manipulator with sensor redundancy

Abstract

In this paper, we propose two algorithms for the auto-calibration of the home position or the joint angle offsets for a parallel manipulator by utilizing the extra sensor(s) information (sensor redundancy), sampling over the workspace, and optimizing a suitably chosen cost function, without resorting to any other external equipment. Meanwhile, a measure or estimate of the precision of the machine is also obtained. It is very useful and convenient if the machine needs frequent re-calibration. Simulations and experiments are also performed to show the effectiveness of the algorithms.