The image of a tool center point (31) caught by a camera (light-receiving
device) 4 from two initial positions is moved to a predetermined point,
by a predetermined point moving process, at the center of a
light-receiving surface thereby to acquire robot positions (Qf1, Qf2),
based on which the direction of the view line (40) is determined. Next,
the robot is moved to the position where the position (Qf1) is rotated by
180 degrees around the Z axis of a coordinate system (.SIGMA.v1) thereby
to execute the predetermined point moving process. After rotational
movement, a robot position (Qf3) is acquired. The midpoint between the
position (Qf1) and the position (Qf3) is determined as the origin of a
coordinate system (.SIGMA.v2). Using the position and the posture of the
view line (40), the position of the tool center point (31) is determined.
Thus, the position of the tool center point with respect to the tool
mounting surface can be determined using a fixed light-receiving device.
By additionally measuring two points at known relative positions from the
tool center point, the tool posture as well as the position of the tool
center point can be determined.