A method for automatic 3D reconstruction based on multiple views from a free-mobile camera

Abstract

Automatic 3D-reconstruction from an image sequence of an object is described. The construction is based on multiple views from a free-mobile camera and the object is placed on a novel calibration pattern consisting of two concentric circles connected by radial line segments. Compared to other methods of 3D-reconstruction, the approach reduces the restriction of the measurement environment and increases the flexibility of the user. In the first step, the images of each view are calibrated individually to obtain camera information. The calibration pattern is separated from the input image with the erosion-dilation algorithm and the calibration points can be extracted from the pattern image accurately after estimations of two ellipses and lines. Tsai’s two-stage technique is used in calibration process. In the second step, the 3D reconstruction of real object can be subdivided into two parts: the shape reconstruction and texture mapping. With the principle of “shape from silhouettes (SFS)”, a bounding cone is constructed from one image using the calibration information and silhouette. The intersection of all bounding cones defines an approximate geometric representation. The experimental results with real object are performed, the reconstruction error <1%, which validate this method’s high efficiency and feasibility.