Imaging Solutions for Harsh Environments

Abstract

This paper presents a quantitative assessment of uncertainty for the stereo calibration at different cameras angle and control object 3D reconstruction. Stereo-photogrammetry with high resolution commercially available digital cameras is applied to deliver a 3D data from a pair of 2D images. The main goal of the project is the reconstruction of the 3D model from the images obtained underwater in a high vibration manufacturing environment. The crucial step in obtaining high accuracy 3D data is stereo-rig calibration. Robust camera calibration is a critical step in 3D reconstructions in order to extract precise quantitative measurements from 2D images. Two AV 6600 monochrome 29 Megapixels GigE cameras were calibrated at four different angles to ensure that the angle of the stereo rig and variation in image contrast would not influence significantly the final results. All the images were undertaken in the high vibration manufacturing environment. It was shown that calibration of the cameras set at the angle of 15o reduces significantly 3D reconstruction accuracy. However, it does not influence reprojection error, which is less than 0.5 pixels.