Thesis opportunities- Identification and estimation of error sources impacting robot-sensor hand-eye alignment
Hand-eye alignment is the procedure of establishing a common coordinate system between a robot (industrial or cobot) and a vision sensor. This typically involves comparing several sensor observations of an object with corresponding positions reported by the robot, to determine how to transform sensor coordinates into robot coordinates.
The object localization accuracy of machine vision systems for Robot Guidance, such as the ones developed by SICK, is highly dependent on how accurately the hand-eye alignment transformation has been estimated. As a measure of the quality, the total reprojection error is often used. This does however not say anything about the possible sources to the error or the magnitude of their individual contributions, making it near impossible to know what to address when results are not satisfactory.
The master thesis work focuses on the following/example of research questions
Investigate and gain understanding of possible error sources that affect hand-eye alignment and consequently object localization accuracy, including but not limited to:
- The robot itself
- The optics of the vision sensor and quality of corresponding intrinsic calibration (lens model)
- The mathematics/algorithms used for object detection and hand-eye alignment estimation
- Lighting conditions in the robot cell and other external factors
Develop methods/algorithms for finding and measuring contributions from the individual sources such that the result can be presented in an understandable way for a user to act on.
Prerequisites
Good skills, high interest in areas such as machine vision, robotics, programming, mathematics, and usability.
Contact
For more information about the position, contact:
Anders Moe, Algorithm Specialist, anders.moe@sick.se
Andreas Wrangsjö, R&D Team Manager, andreas.wrangsjo@sick.se or +46 728 530 320
or
Sarah Lantz, HR Business Partner, +46 739 10 99 37.
Welcome with your application 26th of October at the latest!
SICK is a world-leading supplier of sensors and sensor solutions for industrial applications. We’re part of SICK AG — a global leader in sensor technology with 10,000 employees across 50 countries and headquarters in Freiburg, Germany. Together, we build technology that makes industries more efficient, intelligent, and safe.
As a Machine Vision Innovation Center, SICK Linköping develops high-performance cameras and advanced AI-powered software that drives the future of both manufacturing and logistics automation. Whether it’s helping robots pick the right item or enabling high-precision quality control with 2D and 3D vision, our solutions bring clarity, speed, and smart decision-making to complex industrial environments — all driven by a dedicated team of 100 colleagues.
We are very proud of being a healthy and attractive workplace. We have consistently been recognized as one of the best workplaces in Sweden according to the Great Place to Work survey. We actively work to reduce our climate footprint and engage in various initiatives to contribute to society and enhance diversity at our workplace.