METHODS FOR REFINING ORIGINAL ROBOT COMMAND SIGNALS

A method for refining an original command signal which is intended to locate a robot at a desired position and orientation (pose) comprising the steps of identifying the actual system parameters of the robot; predicting, through utilization of those actual system parameters the anticipated pose of the robot which would actually be obtained as the result of the original command signal; calculating corrected command signals required to minimize the difference between the predicted anticipated pose and the desired pose; and employing the corrected command signals to place the robot. Preferably, a plurality of desired calibration pose command signals are used in the step of identifying the actual system parameters to place the robot in a plurality of actual calibration poses in the measuring range of at least one pose sensor. The differences between the desired calibration poses and the correponding actual poses are calculated and these differences are used to solve a set of equations which relates those differences to the actual system parameters of the robot, to thereby obtain the actual system parameters of the robot.