An Accurate Non-Cooperative Method for Measuring Textureless Spherical Target Based on Calibrated Lasers

Area of Science:

• Robotics and Computer Vision
• Metrology and Measurement Science

Background:

• Accurate non-cooperative target measurement is crucial for tasks like robotic assembly and capture.
• Traditional vision-based methods struggle with textureless spherical targets, limiting practical applications.
• Existing techniques often lack the precision or real-time capability required for dynamic environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel multi-sensor fusion system for precise measurement and reconstruction of textureless non-cooperative spherical targets.
• To address the limitations of current vision-based methods in handling challenging target surfaces.
• To provide a robust and accurate framework for geometric parameter estimation of spherical objects.

Main Methods:

• Proposed a system integrating four simple lasers and a visual camera for multi-sensor fusion.
• Developed a novel approach for calibrating extrinsic parameters between the camera and lasers.
• Implemented a method for reconstructing 3D laser spot positions on the target surface, refined through an optimized scheme.

Main Results:

• The proposed extrinsic calibration method achieved fine results, comparable to state-of-the-art laser rangefinder (LRF)-based techniques.
• The calibrated system demonstrated high accuracy in estimating geometric parameters of textureless spherical targets.
• The system achieved real-time performance, enabling rapid measurement and reconstruction.

Conclusions:

• The novel multi-sensor fusion system effectively overcomes limitations in measuring textureless non-cooperative spherical targets.
• The developed calibration and reconstruction framework offers a viable solution for accurate and real-time geometric parameter estimation.
• This system holds significant potential for applications in robotics, automated assembly, and object capture.