Holographic robotic alignment aide

Abstract

The alignment of robots to their specific settings and tasks is a procedure that must always be performed in some capacity. Robot alignment has long been a tedious task requiring lengthy maneuvers and techniques that reduce the speed and productivity of the overall operation. Providing quick, accurate, and affordable positioning of the robot within its work envelope is a demand many current techniques cannot fulfill. Some recent findings give support to alternative methods of alignment. One such method is based on the principle of holography. A holographic targeting approach could be taken to present the viewing system with a three-dimensional target image. Enhanced parallax effects not normally available (or very difficult to obtain) are feasible with such an image. Also, multiple views of an application can be recorded in one holographic frame to provide the viewing system with a wealth of information. In this case, only small shifts in viewing angles would yield entirely different scenes. This easily improves on the larger, time consuming motions required by current alignment systems to acquire the same scenes. Methods based on these principles could tremendously simplify the alignment issue from an often complex measurement to a relatively simple measurement of a holographic image. This paper will describe preliminary work directed toward the development of such a measurement system. Economic considerations, as well as basic design constraints, will also be addressed within the scope of this paper.The alignment of robots to their specific settings and tasks is a procedure that must always be performed in some capacity. Robot alignment has long been a tedious task requiring lengthy maneuvers and techniques that reduce the speed and productivity of the overall operation. Providing quick, accurate, and affordable positioning of the robot within its work envelope is a demand many current techniques cannot fulfill. Some recent findings give support to alternative methods of alignment. One such method is based on the principle of holography. A holographic targeting approach could be taken to present the viewing system with a three-dimensional target image. Enhanced parallax effects not normally available (or very difficult to obtain) are feasible with such an image. Also, multiple views of an application can be recorded in one holographic frame to provide the viewing system with a wealth of information. In this case, only small shifts in viewing angles would yield entirely different scenes. This easily i...