Geometric modelling and calibration of a spherical camera imaging system
Date
2020-04-16
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Abstract
The Ladybug5 is an integrated, multi-camera system that features a near-spherical field of view. It is commonly deployed on mobile mapping systems to collect imagery for 3D reality capture. This paper describes an approach for the geometric modelling and self-calibration of this system. The collinearity equations of the pinhole camera model are augmented with five radial lens distortion terms to correct the severe barrel distortion. Weighted relative orientation stability constraints are added to the self-calibrating bundle adjustment solution to enforce the angular and positional stability between the Ladybug5’s six cameras. Results are presented from two calibration data-sets and an independent data-set for accuracy assessment. It is demonstrated that centimetre-level 3D reconstruction accuracy can be achieved with the proposed approach. Moreover, the effectiveness of the lens distortion modelling is demonstrated. Image-space precision and object-space accuracy are improved by 92% and 93%, respectively, relative to a two-term model. The high correlations between lens distortion coefficients were not found to be detrimental to the solution. The mechanical stability of the system was assessed by comparing calibrations taken before and after ten months of routine camera system use. The results suggest sub-pixel interior orientation stability and millimetre-level relative orientation stability. Analyses of accuracy and parameter correlation demonstrate that a slightly-relaxed weighting strategy is preferred to tightly-enforced relative orientation stability constraints.
Description
Poostprint of paper accepted for publication in the Photogrammetric Record on 27/03/2020
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Citation
Lichti, D. D., Jarron, D., Tredoux, W., Shabazi, M. M., & Radovanovic, R. (2020). Geometric modelling and calibration of a spherical camera imaging system. "Photogrammetric Record".