A Fast Teaching Method of Robot Based on Position Tracker

In order to avoid the problems of delay, low control accuracy, and difficult operation in the drag teaching of medium and large manipulators, the study proposed a fast teaching system for robots based on position tracker. Firstly, the position tracker receiver was fixed at the end of the manipulator, and the relationship between their coordinate systems was analyzed. Secondly, the study deduced the transformation relationship between the robot base coordinate system and the position tracker transmitter coordinate system, and the position relationship between the robot end coordinate system and the position tracker receiver coordinate system. A solution method based on quaternion was proposed to carry out transformation relationship between the transmitter coordinate system and the robot base coordinate system. Finally, the position tracker receiver can be used as a teaching pen for robot dragging teaching when the calibration work is done. Accodring to the transformation relationship between the robot base coordinate system and the position tracker receiver, teaching work and getting waypoint information can be completed easily and quickly by converting the pose of the receiver to the pose of the robot base coordinate system without dragging. In addition, the position tracker receiver is lighter and smaller than robot end. Using the position tracker receiver for drag teaching is more convenient and efficient than manually dragging the robot in some scenarios that require drag teaching in a small area. A fast teaching system with the Elephant E series industrial robot and the trakStar position tracker of Ascension in US was built to carry out the error experiment and the trajectory teaching experiment in spraying application. The experimental results show that the absolute of the rotation angle error of the robot end pose calculated by the position tracker's pose is no more than 0.8°, and the absolute of the translation error is less than 2.5 mm, which can meet the actual control requirements.