The fusion of imaging ladar information and digital imagery results in 2.5-D surfaces covered with texture
information. Called "texel images," these datasets, when taken from dierent viewpoints, can be combined to
create 3-D images of buildings, vehicles, or other objects. These
3-D images can then be further processed for
automatic target recognition, or viewed in a 3-D viewer for tactical planning purposes.
This paper presents a procedure for calibration, error correction, and fusing of ladar and digital camera
information from a single hand-held sensor to create accurate texel images. A brief description of a prototype
sensor is given, along with calibration technique used with the sensor, which is applicable to other imaging
ladar/digital image sensor systems. The method combines systematic error correction of the ladar data, correction
for lens distortion of the digital camera image, and fusion of the ladar to the camera data in a single process. The
result is a texel image acquired directly from the sensor. Examples of the resulting images, with improvements
from the proposed algorithm, are presented.
|