Patent No: US 7853359B2 Calibration device and method for robot mechanism

A calibration device and method for automatically determining the position and the orientation of a robot used for measurement. First, an initial position of a preliminary position is generated based on a designated basic position, and it is judged whether the initial position is within an operation range of the robot. If the robot cannot reach the initial position, the preliminary position is adjusted close to the basic position. Otherwise, the preliminary position is evaluated by calculating an evaluation index of the preliminary position. When the evaluation index does not satisfy a predetermined condition, an initial value of an posture angle is increased.