On-the-way city mobile mapping using laser range scanner and fisheye camera

We present a new Mobile Mapping System mounted on a vehicle to reconstruct outdoor environment in real time. The scanning system is based on two sensors, a laser range finder and a camera equipped with a wide-angle fisheye lens. We can produce 3D coloured points or 3D textured triangulated models of the nearby environment of the vehicle. We explain our choice of the fisheye lens for its large aperture angle covering a large part of the world surrounding the car (180°). An important part of the process is to calibrate the system: we need to get the rigid transformation between the two frames, and the fisheye projection model which is different from the usual "pin-hole" model. We present a new and faster way to determine the fisheye projection parameters. Once the system has been calibrated, the data acquisition and processing to create models are done "on-the-way". Results illustrating in city streets the possibility of the new scanning system are presented.