Coordinate frame

How it is used

Used in robot programming and training. People also say coordinate system or just frame: 'jog in the tool frame', 'teach a user frame on the fixture'. Brands use different names for the frame on the workpiece, such as user frame, base or work object.

Example sentences

1. If you teach the points in a user coordinate frame, you only have to re-teach the frame when the fixture moves.

2. Switch the coordinate frame to tool so the gripper moves along its own Z axis.

Common collocations

• world frame
• tool frame
• user frame
• base frame
• teach a frame

Related terms

• tool center pointThe reference point at the working tip of the robot's tool, such as the tip of a welding wire or the center between gripper fingers. The robot moves and positions this point.
• axisOne controlled direction of motion, either a rotation or a straight-line movement, driven by its own motor. Also a line in a coordinate system, such as the X, Y or Z axis.
• kinematicsThe study of motion without looking at the forces that cause it. In robotics, it describes how the joint angles relate to the position and orientation of the tool.
• jogTo move a robot or machine axis by hand in small steps or at low speed, usually by holding keys on the teach pendant, to position it or check a movement.
• work envelopeThe full three-dimensional space a robot can reach with its wrist or tool, shown in the data sheet as side and top views of the reachable area.

More terms: Motion and Kinematics

• degrees of freedom
• repeatability
• accuracy
• trajectory
• inverse kinematics
• singularity