2. Calibration of Industrial Fanuc 430iF Series Robot Arm

Robot calibration is a process to enhance the accuracy of robot manipulator through modification of the robot control software. The repeatability motion causes wears and tears to the robot joints that deteriorate the robot accuracy and repeatability. These wears and tears affect the position and orientation of the end-effector at any point in the workspace relative to a fixed known coordinate frame which is a set of three orthogonal right-handed axes X, Y, and Z, called principal axes. To compensate and improve the absolute positioning accuracy of serial link manipulator, a cost-effective measurement system was applied to calibrate the robot using theodolite system. The calibration process was carried out at the point of interaction between the workpiece and the end-effector of the Fanuc 430iF series arm robot. The experimental method of the robot calibrations was explained, analyzed, and evaluated. The analysis of inaccuracies and the sources of errors in the calibration was discussed. The outcome of this calibration procedures has the potential to be used to correct the inaccuracies in specific components of the robot joints and then improve the performance of the robot.