Calibration of a network of Kinect sensors for robotic inspection over a large workspace

Abstract

This paper presents an approach for calibrating a network of Kinect devices used to guide robotic arms with rapidly acquired 3D models. The method takes advantage of the rapid 3D measurement technology embedded in the Kinect sensor and provides registration accuracy within the range of the depth measurements accuracy provided by this technology. The internal calibration of the sensor in between the color and depth measurement is also presented. The resulting system is developed to inspect large objects, such as vehicles, positioned within an enlarged field of view created by the network of RGB-D sensors.