Pseudo-stereo vision system: A detailed study
In this paper, a new stereovision system based on mirrors is presented. It is composed of three mirrors, a beam-splitter and a camera. It is called Pseudo-Stereo Vision System (PSVS) and can be used in real time applications. Two parallel virtual cameras are created with the geometric properties and parameters of the real camera. PSVS captures, in one shot, a complex image, created by the superposition of the left and right views of the system. The apparatus has no moving parts, low cost and double resolution compared with other monocular systems based on mirrors. It can be constructed in any dimension covering any type of camera, length of baseline and accuracy of depth measurements. The design and construction details of the system as well as the appearing refraction phenomena to the apparatus are analytically presented. Analytical expressions are derived for the calculation of mirrors dimensions, minimum common view distance and minimum length of baseline. Mirrors alignment method is also described. Equations providing the Cartesian coordinates of a point in space, taking into consideration refraction phenomena to beam-splitter and camera calibration parameters, are proved. Two new methods for the separation of complex images to pairs of left and right images using gray scale or color cameras are explained and the first real experimental results are illustrated. Finally, experimental results, where the PSVS is mounted on the end effector of a PUMA 761 robotic manipulator are presented.
complex image mirrors alignment images separation pseudo-stereovision single camera