Laser trackers, known for their high precision in large-scale geometric measurements, play a crucial role in industries such as aerospace and precision manufacturing. These sophisticated instruments are employed to ensure accurate and reliable measurements of large components and assemblies. During the measurement process, active targets utilize automatic aiming technology to maintain the reflector's orientation towards the laser tracker. This functionality significantly expands the beam reception angle, enhances measurement efficiency, and minimizes the need for manual adjustments. As a result, active targets offer substantial benefits over traditional fixed cooperative targets, which lack these advanced features. The primary objective of this study is to design a laser tracker cooperative target equipped with active aiming capabilities. By addressing and compensating for geometric errors inherent in the target's complex mechanical structure, this design aims to meet the stringent performance requirements of typical precision measurement applications. This innovation promises to improve measurement accuracy and operational efficiency, making it a valuable tool in precision engineering fields.This study involves the design of the overall structure of the active aiming target, including components such as the base, azimuth axis system, pitch axis system, reflecting prism, and PSD (Position Sensitive Detector) detection unit (Fig.1). By constructing a three-closed-loop feedback control model comprising current loop, velocity loop, and position loop, and establishing a segmented PID controller with miss distance detected by PSD as feedback input, the target's active aiming function for the measurement laser was realized. By analyzing the sources of geometric errors, the transmission chain of motion parameters, and the structural topology, a kinematic error model incorporating all geometric error parameters and motion parameters was established (Fig.6). To accurately identify model parameters, a comprehensive global optimization method was proposed, which combines genetic algorithms and the least squares method. Initially, the genetic algorithm is employed to perform global optimization and determine the initial values for the parameters. Subsequently, the least squares method is utilized to achieve local optimization based on these initial values, thereby refining the parameter estimates for improved accuracy. This hybrid approach ensures both broad exploration and precise fine-tuning in the parameter identification process. Experiments were conducted using measured data for model parameter identification and coordinate measurement compensation, validating the effectiveness of the proposed geometric error compensation method.A testing system was established to validate the aiming performance and the effectiveness of the geometric error compensation (Fig.7). The target, when rotated using a rate turntable (Fig.8), maintained aiming at a maximum angular rate of 51.9 (°)/s (Fig.9), with a miss distance not exceeding ±27 μm. The introduced optical path variation remains below 7.1×10^-5mm, ensuring consistency between dynamic and static measurement results. The error compensation reduced the maximum value of the prism vertex coordinate offset error from 9.753 mm to 0.057 mm (Fig.12) and the target displacement error from 0.182 mm to 0.014 mm (Fig.13). The results indicate that the designed target demonstrates effective aiming performance. Additionally, the proposed geometric error compensation method enhances the accuracy of coordinate measurements. This ensures the system meets the stringent requirements of standard industrial precision measurement applications. The results underscore the efficacy of the target design and the error compensation technique in achieving high precision within industrial environments.An active aiming target for industrial large-scale laser precision measurements was designed. By implementing a three-closed-loop feedback control model (Fig.3), the target achieved adaptive aiming of the laser tracker's measurement beam under rapid and random motion conditions. A kinematic error model was established, and a model parameter identification method based on genetic algorithms and the least squares method was proposed. Experimental results indicate that the designed target exhibits excellent active aiming performance with a maximum angular rate of 51.9 (°)/s. The proposed methods significantly reduce the impact of geometric errors on measurement accuracy, decreasing the maximum value and root mean square value of the target displacement error by 81% and 84%, respectively. These methods provide a theoretical basis for the practical application of the target.