Hybrid Stereo Sensor with Omnidirectional Vision Capabilities: Overview and Calibration Procedures

In this paper, we present a compact hybrid video sensor that combines perspective and omnidirectional vision to achieve a 360deg field of view, as well as high-resolution images. Those characteristics, in association with 3D metric reconstruction capabilities, are suitable for vision tasks such as surveillance and obstacle detection for autonomous robot navigation. We describe the sensor calibration procedure, with particular regard to mirror-to-camera positioning. We also present some results obtained in testing the accuracy of 3D reconstruction, which have confirmed the correctness of the calibration.