Improved mirror ball projection for more accurate merging of multiple camera outputs and process monitoring

TL;DR

This paper presents an improved mirror ball projection technique that enhances the merging accuracy of multiple camera outputs for process monitoring in hazardous environments, enabling cost-effective and multi-spectral imaging.

Contribution

It introduces a novel variation of mirror ball projection that accounts for perspective distortion, improving image merging accuracy in multi-camera setups.

Findings

Reduced parallax shift between camera images

Enhanced accuracy in process monitoring

Effective multi-spectral image layering

Abstract

Using spherical mirrors in place of wide-angle cameras allows for cost-effective monitoring of manufacturing processes in hazardous environment, where a camera would normally not operate. This includes environments of high heat, vacuum and strong electromagnetic fields. Moreover, it allows the layering of multiple camera types (e.g., color image, near-infrared, long-wavelength infrared, ultraviolet) into a single wide-angle output, whilst accounting for the different camera placements and lenses used. Normally, the different camera positions introduce a parallax shift between the images, but with a spherical projection as produced by a spherical mirror, this parallax shift is reduced, depending on mirror size and distance to the monitoring target. This paper introduces a variation of the 'mirror ball projection', that accounts for distortion produced by a perspective camera at the pole of the projection. Finally, the efficacy of process monitoring via a mirror ball is evaluated.