Abstract: An example system includes an omnidirectional robot reachtruck or system that has a set of steerable wheels configures in a U-shaped base structure, a vertical track structure that enables an engagement structure or extendible forklift to be raised and lowered, and a housing that stores control components, engine and energy components. Each of the wheels is steerable thus making the robot omnidirectional. The U-shaped base structure enables the system to lower the engagement structure or forklift to the ground and to pick up pallets or other items that fit between the projections of the U-shaped base structure.

Abstract: Disclosed are methods adapted to calibrate a robot gripper to a camera. The method includes providing a robot with a coupled moveable gripper, providing one or more cameras, providing a target scene having one or more fixed target points, moving the gripper and capturing images of the target scene at two or more imaging locations, recording positions in the gripper coordinate system for each of the imaging locations, recording images in a camera coordinate system, and processing the images and positions to determine a gripper-to-camera transformation between the gripper coordinate system and the camera coordinate system. The transformation may be accomplished by nonlinear least-squares minimization, such as the Levenberg-Marquardt method. Robot calibration apparatus for carrying out the method are disclosed, as are other aspects.