The EPEC Algorithm for Vision Guided Manipulation: Analysis and Validation

This paper describes the simulated performance and experimental validation of a computationally efficient algorithm for improving positioning accuracy of robot arms using low speed feedback from fixed stereo cameras. The algorithm, called End-Effector Position Error Compensation (EPEC) is robust to visual occlusion of the end-effector and does not require high fidelity calibration of either the arm or stereo camera. The algorithm works by calculating an error vector between the locations of a fiducial on the arm's end-effector as predicted by arm kinematics and detected by a stereo camera triangulation. With this knowledge, the commanded target pose is adjusted to compensate for positioning errors. A simulation environment where arbitrary error can be introduced into arm-camera systems is introduced and used to provide an assessment of the performance of the algorithm under both ideal and degraded conditions. Experimental results in the laboratory and on Mars are presented to validate the simulated performance estimates.