A robot control system and a method for automatic camera calibration is presented. The robot control system includes a control circuit configured to control a robot arm to move a calibration pattern to at least one location within a camera field of view, and to receive a calibration image from a camera. The control circuit determines a first estimate of a first intrinsic camera parameter based on the calibration image. After the first estimate of the first intrinsic camera parameter is determined, the control circuit determines a first estimate of a second intrinsic camera parameter based on the first estimate of the first intrinsic camera parameter. These estimates are used to determine an estimate of a transformation function that describes a relationship between a camera coordinate system and a world coordinate system. The control circuit controls placement of the robot arm based on the estimate of the transformation function.