A method for modeling a working environment of a robot comprising providing a robot having a base, a reference point, a plurality of links by which the reference point is movably connected to the base, and sensors for detecting positions of or angles between the links, providing a controller adapted to associate a position of the reference point to detected positions or angles between of the links, installing the base in a working environment which is delimited by at least one surface, moving the reference point to at least one sample point of the at least one surface, determining the position of the sample point from positions of or angles between the links detected while the reference point is at the sample point, and inferring the position of the surface from the determined position.

Methods, apparatuses, systems, and computer readable media for managing a tool in a robot system. In a method, a plurality of arm positions of a robot arm of the robot system are obtained when the tool is placed under a posture on a surface of a calibration object for calibrating the tool, where the posture represents rotation parameters of the robot arm. A center of the calibration object is determined based on the plurality of arm positions. A reference position of the robot arm is generated for calibrating the tool based a position of the center and the posture.

An apparatus to assist a machinist in the setup of a remote computer controlled machine tool table has an X-axis electronic gauge block assembly, a Y-axis electronic gauge block assembly, and a Z-axis electronic gauge block assembly each positioned on the machine tool table, to respectively collect X-axis probe position values, Y-axis probe position values, and Z-axis probe position values. Environmental sensors collect environmental values. An electronics processing system establishes a raw X-axis probe position, a raw Y-axis probe position, and a raw Z-axis probe position. A wireless interface transmits the environmental values, the raw X-axis probe position value, the raw Y-axis probe position value, and the raw Z-axis probe position value to the remote computer and receives from the remote computer refined probe position values to assist the machinist in the setup of the machine tool table.

A probe displacement command in a scanning measurement is generated according to a composite speed vector V:

V=Gf.Math.Vf+Ge.Math.Ve+sp(p).Math.Gc.Math.Vc2 wherein Vf is a vector along which a probe is displaced along a scanning path, Ve is a vector maintaining a deflection amount of the probe toward a work piece at a standard deflection amount. Vc2 is represented by (Vc1.Math.q)q, Vc1 is a vector in a direction correcting a probe position such that a stylus tip is oriented along a scanning course, q is a vector given by a vector product of the normal line of a surface of the work piece and Vf, The normal direction of a measured surface is designated as Nw, p is a scalar product of Vc2 and Nw, and sg(p) is a function returning +1 or 1 in accordance with a value of p.