Estimation of a position and orientation of a frame used in controlling movement of a tool

A method for operating a system comprising a control device and a manipulator configured to support a tool having a tool frame, the method comprising:

• receiving one or more images captured by an image-capturing system, the image-capturing system having an image frame, wherein the tool is visible in the one or more images;
• determining an estimated frame transform based on information in the one or more images, wherein the estimated frame transform is used in defining an unknown frame transform between the image frame and the tool frame;
• determining, in response to an input at the control device, an output movement for the tool based on the estimated frame transform;
• and
• causing movement of the tool based on the output movement.

A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising a plurality of machine-readable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors associated with a system comprising a control device and a manipulator configured to support a tool having a tool frame, causes the one or more processors to perform a method comprising:

• receiving one or more images captured by an image-capturing system, the image-capturing system having an image frame, wherein the tool is visible in the one or more images;
• determining an estimated frame transform based on information in the one or more images, wherein the estimated frame transform is used in defining an unknown frame transform between the image frame and the tool frame;
• determining, in response to an input at the control device, an output movement for the tool based on the estimated frame transform;
• and
• causing movement of the tool based on the output movement.