Machine-Learning-Inspired Workflow for Camera Calibration

The performance of modern digital cameras approaches physical limits and enables high-precision measurements in optical metrology and in computer vision. All camera-assisted geometrical measurements are fundamentally limited by the quality of camera calibration. Unfortunately, this procedure is often effectively considered a nuisance: calibration data are collected in a non-systematic way and lack quality specifications; imaging models are selected in an ad hoc fashion without proper justification; and calibration results are evaluated, interpreted, and reported inconsistently. We outline an (arguably more) systematic and metrologically sound approach to calibrating cameras and characterizing the calibration outcomes that is inspired by typical machine learning workflows and practical requirements of camera-based measurements. Combining standard calibration tools and the technique of active targets with phase-shifted cosine patterns, we demonstrate that the imaging geometry of a typical industrial camera can be characterized with sub-mm uncertainty up to distances of a few meters even with simple parametric models, while the quality of data and resulting parameters can be known and controlled at all stages.