A technique for binocular stereo vision system calibration by the nonlinear optimization and calibration points with accurate coordinates

With the increasing need for higher accuracy measurement in computer vision, the precision of camera calibration is a more important factor. The objective of stereo camera calibration is to estimate the intrinsic and extrinsic parameters of each camera. We presented a high-accurate technique to calibrate binocular stereo vision system having been mounted the locations and attitudes, which was realized by combining nonlinear optimization method with accurate calibration points. The calibration points with accurate coordinates, were formed by an infrared LED moved with three-dimensional coordinate measurement machine, which can ensure indeterminacy of measurement is 1/30000. By using bilinear interpolation square-gray weighted centroid location algorithm, the imaging centers of the calibration points can be accurately determined. The accuracy of the calibration is measured in terms of the accuracy in the reconstructing calibration points through triangulation, the mean distance between reconstructing point and given calibration point is 0.039mm. The technique can satisfy the goals of measurement and camera accurate calibration.