Determination of Position and Orientation of LiDAR Sensors on Multisensor Platforms

Abstract

The use of multisensor system (MSS) plays a key role in engineering geodesy. Because of the complexity of tasks such as industrial applications with high accuracy requirements for heterogeneous and efficient three-dimensional (3D) data acquisition, kinematic MSS are often used. Traditionally, these MSS are composed of referencing sensors and object-capturing sensors. The crucial point in a MSS setup is the determination of the mutual position and orientation [six degrees of freedom (6 DOF)] of each sensor. Within this contribution, a possibility for the determination of the 6 DOF of light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensors in MSS is introduced. The presented approach is generally applicable and allows the 6 DOF determination of profile laser scanners. The 6 DOF and their uncertainty measures are estimated within an adjustment model by utilizing known reference geometries (RFGs). The approach is especially of interest when sensor origins are not physically available and measurable. It is generally applicable in a static or kinematic measurement environment. As an example, the approach is applied in an industrial environment with accuracy requirements of a few millimeters. The used MSS consists of a terrestrial laser scanner (object capturing) and a laser tracker (referencing). The linking component is a tracker-machine control sensor, which is attached to the laser scanner. More precisely, 6 DOF between the tracker-machine control sensor and the origin of the laser scanner have to be determined. Depending on the required accuracy of the 3D object acquisition, the determination of the 6 DOF must fulfill high accuracy requirements. Finally, the results and the accuracy of the 6 DOF determination are shown and validated with a static calibration procedure.