Closed-force-loop elastostatic calibration of serial articulated robots

This paper presents a novel methodology to measure the compliance of articulated serial robots based on the Elastically Linked Systems concept. The idea behind the methodology is to measure serial articulated robots with customized external wrench vectors under a closed-force-loop. The methodology proposes to measure robots in use-case defined configurations to increase the effect of the identified model parameters on their later implementation. The measurement methodology utilizes the Loaded Double Ball Bar to customize wrench vectors and a laser tracker to measure the system response. In particular, the Loaded Double Ball Bar creates the closedforce-loop to create a flow of forces similar to the intended application of the robot. The methodology is applied to an industrial robot with six rotary joints using the LDBB and a laser tracker. Finally, the paper ends on a discussion about the implementation of the model parameters to improve the accuracy of robots as well as challenges to realize a more cost efficient elastostatic calibration.