Extrinsic Calibration of a 2D Laser Rangefinder and a Depth-camera Using an Orthogonal Trihedron

Abstract

2D laser range-finders and depth-cameras are usually equipped on service robots. But there are rarely calibration methods of them. This paper proposes an extrinsic calibration method of a 2D laser range-finder and a depth-camera using an orthogonal trihedron. The trihedron with orthogonal assumptions is taken as a reference frame to roughly estimate the relative pose between the sensors by solving a perspective-three-point (P3P) problem and basis-to-basis correspondence. Then, the estimated relative pose is refined via non-linear optimization based on line-to-plane constraints. Unlike other works which require enough motion, only one-shot observation is required, and it is insensitive to sensor ranging noise and the manufacturing errors of calibration targets. Verified by simulation and real experiments, the proposed method is simple, effective and accurate.