An accurate and stable pose estimation method for planar cases considering the line constraints between every two points

Abstract

The current solutions for pose estimation problems using coplanar feature points (PnP problems) can be divided into non-iterative and iterative solutions. The accuracy, stability, and efficiency of iterative methods are unsatisfactory. Therefore, non-iterative methods have become more popular. However, the non-iterative methods only consider the correspondence of the feature points with their 2D projections. They ignore the constraints formed between feature points. This results in lower pose estimation accuracy and stability. In this work, we proposed an accurate and stable pose estimation method considering the line constraints between every two feature points. Our method has two steps. In the first step, we solved the pose non-iteratively, considering the correspondence of the 3D feature points with their 2D projections and the line constraints formed by every two feature points. In the second step, the pose was refined by minimizing the re-projection errors with one iteration, further improving accuracy and stability. Simulation and actual experiment results show that our method’s accuracy, stability, and computational efficiency are better than the other existing pose estimation methods. In the − 45 ◦ to + 45 ◦ measuring range, the maximum angle measurement error is no more than 0 . 039 ◦ , and the average angle measurement error is no more than 0 . 016 ◦ . In the 0 mm to 30 mm measuring range, the maximum displacement measurement error is no more than 0.049 mm, and the average displacement measurement error is no more than 0.012 mm. Compared to other current pose estimation methods, our method is the most efficient based on guaranteeing measurement accuracy and stability.