Application Enables Automated Tool Calibration for Robots

Robotics software provider RoboDK has released TwinTool, an application that offers fully automated robot tool calibration for industrial robots. TwinTool is said to be a quick and easy solution to improve a tool's accuracy in a wide variety of manufacturing applications.

TwinTool calibration functionality is distributed as a RoboDK app plugin. Users can now request to add it to their copy of the company’s software. It requires an off-the-shelf linear gauge sensor (or LVDT), which it uses to communicate with any robot and calculate the robot tool center point (TCP) without human intervention, enabling improved accuracy. TwinTool automatically records an unlimited number of points, and the linear gage sensor offers high accuracy for tool definition.

TwinTool runs directly from RoboDK, bridging between the robot controller and the sensor. No programming skills are required, according to the company. Users only need RoboDK simulation software, a robot, its tool (spherical or conical) and a sensor. The program avoids singularities and collisions, and automatically calculates trajectories. To calibrate a robot tool, the user selects their robot model from RoboDK's extensive robot library. Next, they connect RoboDK to the robot and to the sensor. Finally, users move the robot on the sensor and start the calibration. The company says that TwinTool enables users to quickly, automatically improve the accuracy of their tool by up to 0.250 mm with some robot setups. 

RoboDK TwinTool supports over 600 robot arms from 50 different robot manufacturers and is suited for many industrial environments, in accordance with the company’s philosophy of remaining brand-agnostic for hardware. The app is compatible with a range of sensors from major brands, including Mitutoyo, Keyence and Sylvac, allowing it to be versatile with any hardware. Other sensor brands can also be integrated on request.