  The paper is devoted to the elastostatic calibration of industrial robots,
which is used for precise machining of large-dimensional parts made of
composite materials. In this technological process, the interaction between the
robot and the workpiece causes essential elastic deflections of the manipulator
components that should be compensated by the robot controller using relevant
elastostatic model of this mechanism. To estimate parameters of this model, an
advanced calibration technique is applied that is based on the non-linear
experiment design theory, which is adopted for this particular application. In
contrast to previous works, it is proposed a concept of the user-defined
test-pose, which is used to evaluate the calibration experiments quality. In
the frame of this concept, the related optimization problem is defined and
numerical routines are developed, which allow generating optimal set of
manipulator configurations and corresponding forces/torques for a given number
of the calibration experiments. Some specific kinematic constraints are also
taken into account, which insure feasibility of calibration experiments for the
obtained configurations and allow avoiding collision between the robotic
manipulator and the measurement equipment. The efficiency of the developed
technique is illustrated by an application example that deals with elastostatic
calibration of the serial manipulator used for robot-based machining.
