Introduction

In systems with multiple robots, the distance between each robot center point must be properly defined, and accurate tool interference data must be configured to ensure safe jogging, coordinated robot motion, and reliable controller operation. These settings help prevent collisions during manual jogging and coordinated movements.

When the robots are calibrated correctly, the slave robot accurately follows the master robot's base coordinate system. This allows the robots to operate in close-proximity, with the minimum allowable distance determined by the configured tool interference data for the end-of-arm tooling (EOAT).

This document demonstrates common examples of errors found in robot calibration data and illustrates how these errors appear when the calibration files are loaded into MotoSim, as well as how to modify the robot calibration data to achieve accurate real-world spacing between robots.

As shown in the example below, the Robot Calibration data indicates the robots are not aligned on the same X and Z planes. In an ArcWorld 6200 configuration, this misalignment can create significant issues. Because the robots are not positioned on a common X and Z reference, their end-of-arm tooling (EOAT) may be unable to move close enough together to perform coordinated operations, increasing the risk of interference and limiting the usable workspace.

In a configuration such as the ArcWorld 6200, when the robot calibration is performed correctly, the X and Z values should be close to 0, indicating that both robots are aligned on the same X and Z planes. The Y value represents the distance between the center of the two robots

In an ArcWorld 2200 configuration where the two robots face opposite directions, completing the robot-to-robot calibration establishes a common coordinated reference frame between the robots. After calibration, the base coordinate system of R2 is transformed so that its X, Y, and Z axes are aligned with the master robot (R1). As a result, when viewing positions in the base frame, R2's base frame appears to "flip" and follows the orientation of R1's base frame rather than its original physical mounting orientation. In this scenario, the distance between robot center points becomes the X value in the robot calibration data, while Y and Z values will be close to 0.

This transformation affects only the base coordinate system used for coordinated programming and motion calculations. The robot's own internal joint coordinate system and tool orientation conventions continue to follow the standard right-hand rule. In other words, the physical robot has not changed—only the mathematical definition of its base frame has been transformed to match the master robot's coordinate system.