Calibration of an anamorphic laser-based 3D range sensor

This paper describes the parameters and method used to calibrate an anamorphic lens specially designed for a 3D triangulation based laser range sensor. It expands the more `conventional' spherical lens calibration technique that has been developed in photogrammetry to include the extra distortions introduced by the strong astigmatism and by the different optical principal planes of the lens of the anamorphic design. Experimental results using a prototype of the lens for the Biris range sensor are presented.