Laser Illuminated Feature Position Determination and Calibration Approach for PIXL

This paper describes several approaches for the
calibration of translational and rotational alignment errors
between a camera and a set of laser illuminators for a position
determination system. Detailed algorithms are derived and
covariance of calibration residuals in both error state and target
position determination accuracy are obtained. An example with
system design parameters is given to demonstrate the
effectiveness of the approaches. The algorithm can be used for
any terrestrial or space position determination instruments
employing a camera/laser triangulation system and is proposed,
as one application, for the PIXL instrument of JPL’s MARS 2020
Rover project.