Abstract: A method of setting up a joining device for joining a cover lens to a housing of a vehicle lighting device. The joining device features a mounting fixture and a robot with a suction head, The method features at least the following steps: inserting a housing into the mounting fixture and a cover lens into the suction head; transferring the suction head to an initial joining pose; joining the cover lens to the housing with the suction head in the initial joining pose; measuring the pose of the cover lens relative to a reference-point system, which comprises reference points on the surface of the housing and/or the cover lens; determining a set of translations and/or rotations, which transfer the cover lens to an optimal pose with minimal deviations from a target pose; and correcting the initial joining pose of the suction head with the determined set of translations and/or rotations.