Proceedings Article | 23 May 2013
Proc. SPIE. 8791, Videometrics, Range Imaging, and Applications XII; and Automated Visual Inspection
KEYWORDS: Calibration, Cameras, 3D image processing, 3D-TOF imaging, Time of flight cameras, Distance measurement, Scattering, 3D acquisition, 3D modeling, Error analysis
Time-of-flight-based three-dimensional cameras are the state-of-the-art imaging modality for acquiring rapid 3D position information. Unlike any other technology on the market, it can deliver 2D images co-located with distance information at every pixel location, without any shadows. Recent technological advancements have begun miniaturizing such technology to be more suitable for laptops and eventually cellphones. This paper explores the systematic errors inherent to the new PMD CamBoard nano camera. As the world’s most compact 3D time-of-flight camera it has applications in a wide domain, such as gesture control and facial recognition. To model the systematic errors, a one-step point-based and plane-based bundle adjustment method is used. It simultaneously estimates all systematic errors and unknown parameters by minimizing the residuals of image measurements, distance measurements, and amplitude measurements in a least-squares sense. The presented self-calibration method only requires a standard checkerboard target on a flat plane, making it a suitable candidate for on-site calibration. In addition, because distances are only constrained to lie on a plane, the raw pixel-by-pixel distance observations can be used. This makes it possible to increase the number of distance observations in the adjustment with ease. The results from this paper indicate that amplitude dependent range errors are the dominant error source for the nano under low scattering imaging configurations. Post user self-calibration, the RMSE of the range observations reduced by almost 50%, delivering range measurements at a precision of approximately 2.5cm within a 70cm interval.
