The disclosure relates to a parameter calibration method, a parameter calibration system and a non-transitory computer readable medium.
With the development of technology, the multi-link device can replace manpower to perform complex and high-precision operations to reduce cost and increase productivity. The precision and accuracy of the multi-link device are often affected due to factors such as geometrical errors, machining errors, assembly errors and so on between rods and joints. In order to pursue higher accuracy and precision of the multi-link device, it is necessary to minimize the error in the operation of the multi-link device caused by the difference between the actual value and the ideal value.
In view of this, a parameter calibration method, a parameter calibration system and a non-transitory computer readable medium are required to improve accuracy and precision.
The disclosure is directed to a parameter calibration method, a parameter calibration system and a non-transitory computer readable medium.
According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a parameter calibration method for a multi-link device is provided. The method includes the following steps. First, a kinematic model function of the multi-link device is established, and the kinematic model function includes a parameter set. Then, the multi-link device is controlled to acquire N measurement points with a measurement tool and record N parameter sets as N initial parameter sets when the multi-link device acquires the N measurement points with the measurement tool, wherein the N measurement points are located on a first plane and a second plane of an object, the first plane and the second plane are parallel to each other, and the first plane and the second plane are provided with a predetermined dimension therebetween. A plurality of target functions associated with the N measurement points are established based on the N parameter sets and the kinematic model function. Next, the N parameter sets are undated based on the target functions to obtain N updated parameter sets. Afterwards, a parameter modification of the parameter set is obtained based on the N initial parameter sets and the N updated parameter sets.
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, a parameter calibration system for calibrating a multi-link device is provided. The parameter calibration system includes an object, a measurement tool, a control module and a parameter calculation module. The object has a first plane and a second plane, the first plane and the second plane are parallel to each other, and the first plane and the second plane are provided with a predetermined dimension therebetween. The measurement tool is mounted on an end of one of the multi-link device. The control module is configured for controlling the multi-link device to acquire N measurement points with the measurement tool, wherein the N measurement points are located on the first plane and the second plane of the object. The parameter calculation module is configured for: establishing a kinematic model function of the multi-link device, the kinematic model function including a parameter set; recording N parameter sets as N initial parameter sets when the multi-link device acquires the N measurement points with the measurement tool; establishing a plurality of target functions associated with the N measurement points based on the N parameter sets and the kinematic model function; updating the N parameter sets based on the target functions to obtain N updated parameter sets; and obtaining a parameter modification of the parameter set based on the N initial parameter sets and the N updated parameter sets.
According to a further embodiment of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer readable medium for storing a program code causing a controller to perform a parameter calibration method for calibrating parameters of a multi-link device is provided, the parameter calibration method including: establishing a kinematic model function of the multi-link device, the kinematic model function comprising a parameter set; controlling the multi-link device to acquire N measurement points with a measurement tool, and recording N parameter sets as N initial parameter sets when the multi-link device acquires the N measurement points with the measurement tool, wherein the N measurement points are located on a first plane and a second plane of an object, the first plane and the second plane are parallel to each other, and the first plane and the second plane are provided with a predetermined dimension therebetween; establishing a plurality of target functions associated with the N measurement points based on the N parameter sets and the kinematic model function; updating the N parameter sets based on the target functions to obtain N updated parameter sets; and obtaining a parameter modification of the parameter set based on the N initial parameter sets and the N updated parameter sets.
For a better understanding of the foregoing and other embodiments of the present disclosure, the following embodiments are described in detail below, together with the accompanying drawings:
In the present disclosure, a plurality of measurement points are obtained from two parallel planes to establish a plurality of target functions. A parameter set of a kinematic model function is updated by solving the target functions, and then a parameter modification of the parameter set is obtained. The parameter calibration method provided by the present disclosure may effectively improve the parameter error of the kinematic model function, and thus enhance the precision and accuracy of the multi-link device.
Each embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail below and illustrated with drawings. In addition to these detailed descriptions, the present disclosure may be broadly implemented in other embodiments, and easy substitutions, modifications, and equivalent variations of any of the described embodiments are encompassed within the scope of the present disclosure, and subject to the scope of the patent thereafter. In the description of the specification, many specific details and examples of embodiments are provided in order to provide the reader with a more complete understanding of the present disclosure; however, these specific details and examples of embodiments should not be considered as limitations of the present disclosure. In addition, well-known steps or components are not described in detail to avoid unnecessarily limiting the disclosure.
Referring to
The controller 140 is connected to the multi-link device 120, and may include a control module 141 and a parameter calculation module 142. The control module 141 and the parameter calculation module 142 may be implemented by a hardware circuit or software, such as a program code module, a firmware, or a chip. The control module 141 may be configured for controlling the movement of the multi-link device 120, such as controlling an actuator that actuates the links and/or joints of the multi-link device, so that the multi-link device 120 is capable of acquiring measurement points on the object 110 with the measurement tool 130 mounted on the end. During the collection of the measurement points by the multi-link device 120, the parameter calculation module 142 may receive data returned from the multi-link device 120, such as the distance and/or angle of change of the joint from the sensor (e.g., coder, optical scale, etc.) connected to the actuator.
The multi-link device 120 has a base coordinate system XR-YR-ZR, and the object 110 has a reference coordinate system X0-Y0-Z0. Referring to
For example, in one embodiment, the kinematic model function K(ρ) may be constructed using a Denavit-Hartenberg homogeneous coordinate transformation matrix (DH matrix). The parameter set p represents the entire set of the DH parameter, including link offset d, joint angle θ, link length a, and link twist α. Each link of the multi-link device 120 has its corresponding four DH parameters. If the multi-link device 120 contains k links, the parameter set ρ of the entire multi-link device 120 has a total of 4 k DH parameters, which may be expressed as ρ={d1, θ1, a1, α1, d2, θ2, a2, α2, . . . , dk, θk, ak, αk}. The multi-link device 120 obtains an initial parameter set when one of the measurement points is acquired. The initial parameter sets obtained at different measurement points by the multi-link device 120 are respectively different. For example, if the multi-link device 120 is a joint-type multi-link device, wherein each movable joint is mounted at a joint angle θ, the joint angles θ obtained at different measurement points are not identical, but the link offsets d, the link lengths a, and the link torsions α are fixed. Therefore, in the present example, the link offset d, link length a, and link torsion α are fixed parameters, while the joint angle θ is a variable parameter. In other words, whether the DH parameter is variable or fixed depends on the mechanical design of the multi-link device 120. In another embodiment, if the design of the multi-link device 120 is to vary the length of the link, then the link offset d and the link length a may also be variable parameters.
When the multi-link device 120 obtains one of the measurement points on the object 110 with the measurement tool 130, the parameter calculation module 142 may read and record the variable parameter of the actuator, which is combined with the fixed parameter from the original manufacturer to form an initial parameter set, and then substitute the initial parameter set into the kinematic model function so as to obtain the calculated coordinate position of the tool end 131 with respect to the base coordinate system XR-YR-ZR.
However, the parameter set p of the kinematic model function is often not an ideal value due to external factors (such as assembly errors or manufacturing tolerances, etc.), and therefore the parameter set p needs to be calibrated and is the subject of the kinematic model function to be calibrated. In one embodiment, the coordinate obtained by substituting the parameter set ρ into the kinematic model function K(ρ) is not the correct coordinate. Assuming that there is a parameter modification Δρ which is a kind of translation error, and substituting the calibrated parameter set ρ−Δρ into the kinematic model function to obtain the coordinate of K(ρ−Δp) so as to make the coordinate of K(ρ−Δp) closer to the correct one. Therefore, the process of calibrating the parameters is to iteratively calculate Δρ so that the calibrated parameter set ρ−Δρ is closer to the real parameters. In another embodiment, a parameter modification which is described as the error ratio γ may be added, so that K(γρ−Δφ is closer to the real coordinate. Other error models may be adjusted so as to be applied to the present method and will not be described here. That is, it often takes several iterations to obtain a more accurate parameter modification; after the parameter modification is obtained, the parameter set with the parameter modification may be substituted into the kinematic model function to obtain the accurate calculated coordinate position, thereby improving the precision and accuracy of the multi-link device 120.
Generally, the coordinate system of the kinematic model function will be aligned with the base coordinate system XR-YR-ZR of the multi-link device 120. Typically, as shown in
Referring to
In one embodiment, the measurement tool 130 may be a contact probe, and the contact probe may be used for sensing whether the tool end 131 (i.e., the end of the contact probe) touches the N measurement points on the object 110 to perform the collection of the measurement points by the multi-link device 120. In one embodiment, the control module 141 may control the multi-link device 120 so that the measurement tool 130 may touch the N measurement points on the object 110 in different attitudes. In one embodiment, the control may be automated by the control module 141, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In another embodiment, the control may be a manual control by an operator.
For example, as shown in
Referring to
Next, in step S140, after the data related to the N measurement points have been collected, the parameter computation module 142 may establish a plurality of target functions associated with the N measurement points based on the aforementioned N parameter sets and the kinematic model function.
In one embodiment, the target function F(ρ)=F(ρa,ρb) may be expressed as an expression of a subtraction of two coordinates in the kinematic model function K(ρ) for two of the N measurement points from d, as follows:
Wherein d equals zero if the two measurement points belong to the first plane 111 or the second plane 112; d equals the predetermined dimension dC if the two measurement points belong to the first plane 111 and the second plane 112, respectively. [F(ρa,ρb)] is the target function matrix, and ρa and ρb denote two parameter sets of the ath measurement point and bth measurement point, respectively, so that two computational coordinates of kinematic model function may be obtained by substituting the parameter set ρa and the parameter set ρb into the kinematic model function K(ρ). If the measurement axis X0 of the reference coordinate system X0-Y0-Z0 of the object 110 has been aligned with the computational axis AC of the kinematic model function, then the two computational coordinates are the values on the computational axis AC.
If there are N measurement points, then C2N of the target functions F(ρa,ρb) may be established. For example, as shown in
Referring to
For example, referring to
Wherein ρ′ is the updated parameter set, J(ρ) is the Jacobian matrix, which is the partial derivative of F(ρ) with respect to ρ; Δρ=[J(ρ)]*[F(ρ)] is the parameter modification, and [J(ρ)]+ denotes the pseudo-inverse matrix of [J(ρ)]. In this way, the parameter sets may be updated, and the method returns to step S151 to substituting the updated parameter sets into the target functions and repeats the loop of S151-S153 until the termination condition is satisfied, at which time the last updated N parameter sets are referred to as the N updated parameter sets. For example, in step S154, the N updated parameter sets are obtained. In one embodiment, when the square root of the target function matrix is lower than the accuracy of the measurement tool 130, the calculation accuracy requirement is met, which may be set as the termination condition of the calculation.
After the N updated parameter sets are obtained, referring to
In addition, in one embodiment, the improvement rate of the parameter calibration method of the present disclosure may be further enhanced by excluding an anomalous measurement point.
Table 1 shows the simulation result of the parameter calibration method for calibrating parameters according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the multi-link device is modelled using a Denso VS6556E robot arm. Nominal value is the original value of the parameters that has not been calibrated, such as the parameters set by the original manufacturer. The calibration value is the calibrated parameters obtained by the parameter calibration method of one embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Table 1, the parameter error may be greatly reduced by the parameter calibration method of one embodiment of the present disclosure, and there is a significant improvement rate.
In addition, referring to
Although the foregoing measurement points are exemplified to be located on the first plane 111 and the second plane 112 of the object 110 for illustrative purpose, it should be understood that similar parameter calibration methods may also be performed on other parallel planes of the object, such as the third plane 113 and the fourth plane 114, as well as the fifth plane 115 and the sixth plane 116 (which is required to be rotated to an angle that allows for acquiring the measurement points).
In summary, according to the parameter calibration method provided in the present disclosure, a plurality of measurement points are obtained from two parallel planes to establish a plurality of target functions. A parameter set of a kinematic model function is updated by solving the target functions, and then a parameter modification of the parameter set is obtained. Since the measurement points are restricted to two parallel planes, the computational difficulty may be greatly reduced. Moreover, according to the parameter calibration method provided in the present disclosure, the absolute values of the parameters of the kinematic model function may be obtained instead of only the relative values, thus, the parameter error of the kinematic model function may be effectively improved, and the precision and accuracy of the multi-link device may be enhanced.
Although the present disclosure has been disclosed above by way of embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art may make various variations and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the protection scope of the present disclosure shall be as defined in the following claims attached hereto.