Uncalibrated multiple image stereo system with arbitrarily movable camera and projector for wide range scanning

In this paper, we propose an uncalibrated, multi-image 3D reconstruction, using coded structured light. Normally, a conventional coded structured light system consists of a camera and a projector and needs precalibration before scanning. Since the camera and the projector have to be fixed after calibration, reconstruction of a wide area of the scene or reducing occlusions by multiple scanning are difficult and sometimes impossible. In the proposed method, multiple scanning while moving the camera or the projector is possible by applying the uncalibrated stereo method, thereby achieving a multi-image 3D reconstruction. As compared to the conventional coded structured light method, our system does not require calibration of extrinsic camera parameters, occlusions are reduced, and a wide area of the scene can be acquired. As compared to image-based multi-image reconstruction, the proposed system can obtain dense shape data with higher precision. As a result of these advantages, users can freely move either the cameras or projectors to scan a wide range of objects, but not if both the camera and the projector are moved at the same time.