Joint calibration of an inertial measurement unit and coordinate transformation parameters using a monocular camera

An estimation procedure for calibration of a low-cost inertial measurement unit (IMU), using a rigidly mounted monocular camera, is presented. The parameters of a sensor model that captures misalignments, scale and offset errors are estimated jointly with the IMU-camera coordinate transformation parameters using a recursive Sigma-Point Kalman Filter. The method requires only a simple visual calibration pattern. A simulation study indicates the filter's ability to reach subcentimeter and subdegree accuracy.