Modeling and calibration of coupled fish-eye CCD camera and laser range scanner for outdoor environment reconstruction

Precise and realistic models of outdoor environments such as cities and roads are useful for various applications. In order to do so, geometry and photography of environments must be captured. We present in this paper a coupled system, based on a fish-eye lens CCD camera and a laser range scanner, aimed at capturing color and geometry in this context. To use this system, a revelant model and a accurate calibration method are presented. The calibration method uses a simplified fish-eye model; the method uses only one image for fish-eye parameters, and avoids the use of large calibration pattern as required in others methods. The validity and precision of the method are assessed and example of colored 3D points produced by the system is presented.