Camera calibration for road applications

This paper describes an algorithm for the calibration of TV cameras, partic ularly suited to autonomous navigation applications. It makes use of the ro ad itself as a calibration structure. If the lane width and the length of t he discontinuous longitudinal stripes are known, the image plane position o f the lane borders allows a complete (extrinsic and intrinsic) camera calib ration. Even if the two lengths are not known, the method can be used to ca librate a secondary steerable-zoomable camera with respect to a primary, ca librated one. Theoretical formulas and graphs are presented to determine th e precision of the method for every setup. The theoretical formulas an conf irmed by means of real world experiments, (C) 2000 Academic Press.