Abstract: A calibration system for a programmable manipulator having a base and a plurality of segments movable with respect to each other includes a fixture for attachment to the base of the manipulator and a hand-held application module for directing the operation of the programmable manipulator, including a calibration mode operation for initiating calibration of the programmable manipulator. The fixture has an end point to which the end effector of the programmable manipulator attaches. The end point is exactly positioned and oriented with respect to the base thereby establishing a known position and orientation of the end effector. The link lengths (distances between centers of rotation) of the programmable manipulator segments are entered and a computation is made of the displacement between each pair of the plurality of segments and compared with a measured displacement. The difference is an offset which is stored for future correction.