Mounting a webcam on the end of the efector will be challenging. Not physically, but isolating it from something hot. It's also going to be a challenge in terms of cabling. A USB cable going through the flex cycles that will be present in Simpson will fail quite quickly, I expect.
You might try a high flexibility USB extension cable, which might survive a bit better. This one is rated for 10,000 bend cycles.
There might be something out there with more bend cycles, but I don't know where to find it.
But is a USB webcam actually going to do what you want? How many mm/step does Simpson do? What is the resolution of the webcam? What's its minimum focal length? What's its field of view? If the answer is that Simpson is higher resolution than the webcam at that focal length, then I'm not sure you can calibrate with it. You might want to look into USB microscopes.
You might try a high flexibility USB extension cable, which might survive a bit better. This one is rated for 10,000 bend cycles.
There might be something out there with more bend cycles, but I don't know where to find it.
But is a USB webcam actually going to do what you want? How many mm/step does Simpson do? What is the resolution of the webcam? What's its minimum focal length? What's its field of view? If the answer is that Simpson is higher resolution than the webcam at that focal length, then I'm not sure you can calibrate with it. You might want to look into USB microscopes.