Error Analysis For A Two-Camera Stereo Vision System

Abstract

Stereo imaging is useful for many machine vision and robot guidance applications. Accuracy of the technique is an important research issue. In this paper, an analytical, mathematical approach to determining the measurement error in two-camera stereo systems is developed. For three dimensional measurements, two perspective images of the scene must be correlated. Using analysis, it is possible to determine the expected error of the measurements in the field of view. Error equations are presented for the two and three dimensional cases. One key result points to the fact that optimum measurements at a distance, can be made in the center of the field of view. Also, increasing the resolution at the center of the image plane can greatly enhance the accuracy of the measurements.