Single-Shot is Enough: Panoramic Infrastructure Based Calibration of Multiple Cameras and 3D LiDARs

TL;DR

This paper introduces a single-shot calibration method for multi-camera and 3D LiDAR systems, enabling quick and accurate extrinsic calibration using a panoramic infrastructure, suitable for mass production and re-calibration needs.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel single-shot calibration approach that simplifies and accelerates the calibration process for multi-modal sensors in autonomous systems.

Findings

Achieved calibration accuracy comparable to state-of-the-art methods.

Significantly improved calibration efficiency and speed.

Validated on three different device configurations.

Abstract

The integration of multiple cameras and 3D Li- DARs has become basic configuration of augmented reality devices, robotics, and autonomous vehicles. The calibration of multi-modal sensors is crucial for a system to properly function, but it remains tedious and impractical for mass production. Moreover, most devices require re-calibration after usage for certain period of time. In this paper, we propose a single-shot solution for calibrating extrinsic transformations among multiple cameras and 3D LiDARs. We establish a panoramic infrastructure, in which a camera or LiDAR can be robustly localized using data from single frame. Experiments are conducted on three devices with different camera-LiDAR configurations, showing that our approach achieved comparable calibration accuracy with the state-of-the-art approaches but with much greater efficiency.