Sensitivity Analysis and Minimal Measurement Geometry for the Target-Based Calibration of High-End Panoramic Terrestrial Laser Scanners

• Published in: Remote sensing (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 11; no. 13; p. 1519
• Main Authors: Medić, Tomislav, Kuhlmann, Heiner, Holst, Christoph
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01-07-2019
• Subjects: Accuracy; Calibration; Cartesian coordinates; Consistency tests; Coordinates; Cost analysis; Euler angles; Experiments; Geometry; Information sources; Lasers; Noise measurement; Optimization algorithms; Parameter estimation; Parameter sensitivity; Parameter uncertainty; Quality; Reference systems; Scanners; self-calibration; Sensitivity analysis; Stochastic models; terrestrial laser scanners; test-fields; Germany
• ISSN: 2072-4292; 2072-4292
• DOI: 10.3390/rs11131519

Target-based calibration is the most widely used calibration procedure for terrestrial laser scanners. Nevertheless, the current implementations of this procedure are suboptimal due to the high complexity of their calibration fields. Therefore, designing calibration fields, by selecting optimal target locations with respect to the instrument, is a pending research question. Answering this question would lead to a more efficient and user-friendly calibration, as well as improved calibration results. Herein, we conduct a detailed analysis of the most sensitive target-to-instrument measurement configuration to estimate individual calibration parameters. Based on this analysis, we derive a minimal measurement geometry, sensitive to all mechanical misalignments, relevant for high-end panoramic terrestrial laser scanners. We support our sensitivity analysis by a simulation and empirical experiments followed by a discussion about the advantages and shortcomings of the proposed minimal measurement geometry.