Calibration accuracy evaluation method for multi-camera measurement systems

• Published in: Measurement : journal of the International Measurement Confederation 2025-01, Vol.242, p.116311, Article 116311
• Main Authors: Yuan, Fang, Xia, Zhiyuan, Tang, Baijian, Yin, Zhuoyi, Shao, Xinxing, He, Xiaoyuan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accuracy Evaluation Methods; DIC; Global External Parameters; Multi-Camera Measurement Systems
• ISSN: 0263-2241
• DOI: 10.1016/j.measurement.2024.116311

•Proposes a novel method to evaluate the calibration quality of multi-camera measurement systems.•Uses the determinant of the rotation matrix for qualitative calibration assessment.•Develops a quantitative metric based on mean and standard deviation of residuals at control points.•Validates the method with translation experiments and thermal deformation tests. To address the limitations of Digital Image Correlation (DIC) technology in terms of single-view and resolution capabilities, multi-camera systems have emerged, expanding the measurement area by increasing the number of cameras. However, traditional multi-camera systems continue to face challenges in the calibration of global external parameters and error control, particularly when uniform calibration between camera subsystems is not achieved, making the calibration results difficult to evaluate and analyze. In response, this paper systematically investigates the sources of error in multi-camera system calibration and proposes a novel precision evaluation method. This method qualitatively analyzes the registration results of subsystems by examining the determinant of the rotation matrix used to transform local coordinate systems to the global coordinate system and quantitatively assesses the registration accuracy based on the alignment error of targets after registration. Furthermore, a series of experiments were conducted to validate the proposed evaluation method, with results demonstrating that the method not only offers high effectiveness in precision evaluation but also provides reliable technical support in complex engineering measurements.