Pose optimization based on integral of the distance between line segments

In this paper, new solutions for the problem of pose estimation from correspondences between 3D model lines and 2D image lines are proposed. Traditional line-based pose estimation methods rely on the assumption that the noises (perpendicular to the line) for the two endpoints are statistically independent. However, these two noises are in fact negatively correlated when the image line segment is fitted using the least-squares technique. Therefore, we design a new error function expressed by the average integral of the distance between line segments. Three least-squares techniques that optimize both the rotation and translation simultaneously are proposed in which the new error function is exploited. In addition, Lie group formalism is utilized to describe the pose parameters, and then, the optimization problem can be solved by means of a simple iterative least squares method. To enhance the robustness to outliers existing in the match data, an M-estimation method is developed to convert the pose optimization problem into an iterative reweighted least squares problem. The proposed methods are validated through experiments using both synthetic and real-world data. The experimental results show that the proposed methods yield a clearly higher precision than the traditional methods.