A Calibration-and-Error Correction Method for Improved Texel (Fused Ladar/Digital Camera) Images

摘要

The fusion of imaging ladar information and digital imagery results in 2.5-D surfaces covered with texture information. Called \u22texel images,\u22 these datasets, when taken from dierent viewpoints, can be combined to create 3-D images of buildings, vehicles, or other objects. These 3-D images can then be further processed for automatic target recognition, or viewed in a 3-D viewer for tactical planning purposes. This paper presents a procedure for calibration, error correction, and fusing of ladar and digital camera information from a single hand-held sensor to create accurate texel images. A brief description of a prototype sensor is given, along with calibration technique used with the sensor, which is applicable to other imaging ladar/digital image sensor systems. The method combines systematic error correction of the ladar data, correction for lens distortion of the digital camera image, and fusion of the ladar to the camera data in a single process. The result is a texel image acquired directly from the sensor. Examples of the resulting images, with improvements from the proposed algorithm, are presented.