Calibration method for extending single-layer LIDAR to multi-layer LIDAR

This paper uses a single-layer LIDAR system mounted on a pan-tilt unit to obtain multi-layer information. A calibration method for extending the single-layer information to multi-layer information is proposed. In order to obtain multi-layer information from single-layer LIDAR, the LIDAR system has to tilt the scanning plane at various angles and integrate those scanning planes to construct a three-dimensional model. Ideally, the tilt axis should pass through the center of the scanner. However, since the LIDAR system is mounted on a pan-tilt unit, the tilt axis passes through the motor of the pan-tilt unit, rather than the center of the LIDAR scanner. The positions of the scanning center form a circle. A calibration scheme for transforming all scanning data with respect to one scanning center is proposed. Experimental results show that with the proposed method, the shift error is reduced significantly and the standard deviation of measured distances is reduced to 17% of that for uncalibrated results.