Optimization of laser trackers locations for position measurement

This paper presents an approach optimizing the location of laser tracker system to improve the accuracy of position measurement for heavy-duty machine tools. The approach is based on a physical model of the realistic structure of the whole working space with considering constraints determined by the structure of heavy-duty machine tools. The optimum locations of the laser trackers are searched by minimizing the average error coefficients of all measurement points on the machine tool movement trajectory. Monte Carlo simulation was used to evaluate the measuring uncertainty of the heavy-duty machine tool position measurement with the self-calibration error and repeatability error. The optimized locations were verified in experiment where an improved measurement accuracy of 55% was observed.