Fast calibration of embedded non-overlapping cameras

Abstract

This article deals with a simple and flexible extrinsic calibration method, for non-overlapping camera rig. The cameras do not see the same area at the same time. They are rigidly linked and can be moved. The most representative application is the mobile robotics domain. The calibration procedure consists in maneuvering the system while each camera observes a static scene. A linear solution derived from hand eye calibration scheme is proposed to compute an initial estimate of the extrinsic parameters. The main contribution is a specific bundle adjustment which refines both the scene geometry and the extrinsic parameters. Finally, an efficient implementation of the specific bundle adjustment step is defined for online calibration purpose. The proposed approach is validated with both synthetic and real data.