Common Pole-Polar Properties of Central Catadioptric Sphere and Line Images Used for Camera Calibration

Central catadioptric cameras with a single effective viewpoint contain both mirrors and pinhole cameras that increase the imaging field of view. In this study, the common pole-polar properties of central catadioptric sphere or line images are investigated and used for camera calibration. From these properties, the pole and polar with respect to the image of absolute conic and the modified image of absolute conic, respectively, can be recovered according to the generalized eigenvalue decomposition. Moreover, these techniques are valid for paracatadioptric sensors with the degenerate conic dual to the circular points being considered. At least three images of spheres or lines are required to completely calibrate any central catadioptric camera. The intrinsic parameters of the camera, the shape of reflective mirror, and the distortion parameters can be linearly estimated using the algebraic and geometric constraints of the sphere or line images obtained by the central catadioptric camera. The obtained experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed calibration algorithm.

Automated summary

This study investigates the pole-polar properties of central catadioptric sphere or line images and proposes a camera calibration algorithm based on the generalized eigenvalue decomposition. The algorithm can effectively recover the pole and polar of the image of absolute conic and the modified image of absolute conic. Furthermore, it is also applicable to paracatadioptric sensors.