A Three-Dimensional (3-D) Reconstruction Approach Using Single Layer Lidar and an Inertial Measurement Unit
P-F. Zhang, X. Dai, J-P. Ding, D-W. Gong and S-F. Wang
Lidar has long been used in three-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction tasks. Herein a novel method using single layer Lidar and an inertial measurement unit (IMU) is proposed, which is expected to replace the multiple layer lidar in perceiving surrounding environment. The reconstruction is achieved in three steps: (i) Coordinate transformation and timestamp synchronization between the two sensors are first performed; (ii) The quaternion attitude is then calculated to generate the scanned plane by using the original range, roll, pitch, and yaw data measured; and (iii) The registrations between different frames of scanned planes are finally achieved by the iterative closest point (ICP) algorithm. Together, the 3-D spatial reconstruction can be obtained by using an IMU and a single layer, rather than multiple layer, lidar, which is more economical and flexible.
Keywords: Lidar, inertial measurement unit (IMU), coordinate transformation, point cloud registration, iterative closest point (ICP) algorithm, quaternion attitude calculation, integral rough registration, data update