Kalibrot: a simple-to-use Matlab package for robot kinematic calibration

Abstract

Robot modelling is an essential part to properly understand how a robotic system moves and how to control it. The kinematic model of a robot is usually obtained by using Denavit-Hartenberg convention, which relies on a set of parameters to describe the end-effector pose in a Cartesian space. These parameters are assigned based on geometrical considerations of the robotic structure, however, the assigned values may be inaccurate. The purpose of robot kinematic calibration is therefore to find optimal parameters which improve the accuracy of the robot model. In this work we present Kalibrot, an open source Matlab package for robot kinematic calibration. Kalibrot has been designed to simplify robot calibration and easily assess the calibration results. Beside computing the optimal parameters, Kalibrot provides a visualization layer showing the values of the calibrated parameters, what parameters can be identified, and the calibrated robotic structure. The capabilities of the package are here shown through simulated and real world experiments.