Patent Document ID: 9310791
Application ID: 14004859
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A method of calibrating a position of an article relative to an end effector of a robot, comprising: providing a robotic component having the end effector with end effector fingers that are moveable relative to one another and a light beam sensor provided in a fixed orientation to the end effector fingers and oriented to determine whether the end effector fingers have an item to grasp; providing a teach tool at an approximately known location on the article within a work envelope reachable by the end effector, the teach tool having a geometrical calibration feature; positioning the end effector with the light beam sensor at a first location proximate to the geometrical calibration feature, the geometrical calibration feature adapted for use to determine a positional calibration; rotating the end effector about the centerline axis of the end effector and sensing with the light beam sensor a first engagement edge of the geometrical calibration feature of the teach tool; rotating the end effector about the centerline axis of the end effector and sensing with the light beam sensor a second engagement edge of the geometrical calibration feature of the teach tool; and using the sensing of the first engagement edge and the second engagement edge to calibrate a position of the article relative to the end effector of the robot.