University of Wollongong
Faculty of Engineering/ Faculty of Informatics
ECTE471/871/971 MECH950 Robotics and Flexible Automation
Practical
Part B (Week 13), Spring 2020
Laboratory Instructions
Repeatability/Accuracy
Lab Location: online (zoom); Duration: 1 hours; Group of Six
Preparation before class：
• Reading through this document
• Watch the videos on Moddle
• Access to the concept of Repeatability and Accuracy for robot.
Aim
The aim of this laboratory experiment is to make the student:
• Familiarize with basic operations of industrial robot using a teach pendant
• Familiarize with programming of an industrial robot using offline programming software
• Understand the concept of repeatability and accuracy; and use sensor to measure the
accuracy and repeatability of an industrial robot
• Understand the concept of stiffness of a robot and its effect on its accuracy
Measure the accuracy and calibration
1. Identify the resolution of the camera measurement using the given information
2. Source of error: (1) alignment of the plate, Rx Ry from measurement; (2) robot positional
accuracy; (3) robot repeatability.
Introduction
This lab provides you with an opportunity to operate the state-of-the-art industrial robot, measure its
accuracy and repeatability through a vision system.
The lab instructor will introduce the hardware of the industrial robotic system in the lab (ABB IRB120
robot with IRC5 controller). The students will have a chance to control the robot using teach pendant.
Then the accuracy and repeatability of the robot will be measured using a LabVIEW interface.
General Experimental Procedure
1. The lab is equipped with a plate that has a grid etched onto its surface with a high degree of accuracy.
For the purposes of this lab, the etching is considered absolutely accurate as its accuracy is much
higher than that of an industrial robot.
2. Using provided LabVIEW interface, record the error found at each point in the 250mm x 350mm
area. As each square is 50mm x 50mm, you should see 5 x 7 squares in the camera view. (Note: the
reading from LabVIEW has already been converted to real dimension in 3D space, not the pixels in the
image.)
a) Record the position of each corner of the squares. In total, you should record 30 positions.
Plot the results (Position vs. position error)
b) Discuss the trends of position error (accuracy) at each position.
3. What is the measured positional accuracy of the robot?
4. Alternate between two positions, e.g. point (50, 50) & point (200, 250) to determine the
repeatability of the robot. Move between these two positions 5 times, record the positions for each
time and
a) Plot results
b) Discuss the trends of measurement
c) What is the repeatability of the robot?
5. Using the calibration tools, calibrate the robot for points (50, 50) & (200,250). (Use the offset
function provided in LabVIEW to offset the accuracy from step 3 for both positions.)
a) Discuss the results.
6. Adding weight on the robot (thread ~2Kg of billet onto joint 6)
a) Discuss the effect of the extra weight on the calibrated positions in task 5.
b) Explain why the payload will affect the position measurement on horizontal direction (X and
Y). Can you predict this deformation using robot stiffness model?
Assessment
This project has a value 10% of your overall mark in this subject.
Group reports are required for this laboratory experiment. It is expected that each member of the
group equally contributes to the experimental work, the compilation of data/results and report writing.
The laboratory report should be clearly and neatly presented, and contain the following sections:
- A front cover with:
• names and student numbers of group members
• name of the laboratory experiment
• date/time experiment conducted
- A description of the laboratory equipment and experimental procedure
- A Presentation of results and conclusions, including a discussion in your own words of all steps in the
experiment, the phenomena you observed and explanations of the phenomena.
- A brief assessment of the relevance and usefulness of this laboratory experiment, and suggestions
for improvement.
- If Matlab (or other software) is used to calculate any results, please include the code used in an
appendix
Appendix: lab equipment inforamtion
Camera: Canon 500D
Lens: 60mm Macro Zoom
ABB IRB120 specifications:
Position accuracy: ~0.1 mm
Position repeatability: 0.01 mm
Subject Coordinator: Dr. Zengxi (Stephen) Pan
Lab Designer: Dr. Zengxi (Stephen) Pan
October 2020
