A flexible method for calibrating external parameters of two cameras with no-overlapping FOV

A new flexible method to calibrate the external parameters of two cameras with no-overlapping field of view (FOV) is proposed in our paper. A flexible target with four spheres and a 1D bar is designed. All spheres can move freely along the bar to make sure that each camera can capture the image of two spheres clearly. As the radius of each sphere is known exactly, the center of each sphere under its corresponding camera coordinate system can be confirmed from each sphere projection. The centers of the four spheres are collinear in the process of calibration, so we can express the relationship of the four centers only by external parameters of the two cameras. When the expressions in different positions are obtained, the external parameters of two cameras can be determined. In our proposed calibration method, the center of the sphere can be determined accurately as the sphere projection is not concerned with the sphere orientation, meanwhile, the freely movement of the spheres can ensure the image of spheres clearly. Experiment results show that the proposed calibration method can obtain an acceptable accuracy, the calibrated vision system reaches 0.105 mm when measuring a distance section of 1040 mm. Moreover, the calibration method is efficient, convenient and with an easy operation.