Comparison of Two Panoramic Sensor Models for Precise 3D Measurements

In this paper, the system errors produced by the most widely used ideal panoramic camera model for a close-range multi-camera rig are indicated and analytically modeled according to a rigorous panoramic camera model, and a comprehensive comparison between the two models is given. First, the 3D localization errors of the ideal model are analyzed that shows the correlations with the object-image distance and the viewing angles. Second, the epipolar errors are analyzed and are observed to exhibit changes with the rotation angles and z-coordinates of the image points. Finally, tests are carried out in space resection, epipolar constraints, and bundle adjustment with different sensor models. The outdoor tests with small object-image distance (several meters) show the difference between the two models is notably slight. In contrast, the indoor tests with larger object-image distance (more than 15 m) show the rigorous model produces 2 cm better measurement accuracy than the ideal.