A Closed-Form Dual Quaternion Model for Drift Correction in TLS Pose-Circuits

Laser scanning allows for the rapid acquisition of three-dimensional data in the form of 3D point clouds. However, due to the accumulation of errors in the registration of multiple pairs of point clouds along the sensor’s trajectory, the generated 3D reconstructions exhibit drift, which creates global inconsistencies in the scan. To address this error, there are drift correction models that distribute the error along a closed circuit of stations. In this work, we present a model of this nature based on the linear interpolation of dual quaternions. This linear solution simultaneously refines rotations and translations in a closed trajectory without iterative computations or matrix decomposition. Experimental evaluations on eight TLS datasets indicate that the proposed drift correction model provides a robust average error reduction of 26%, with a maximum reduction of 41% in circuits with large drift. This simultaneous solution improves pose accuracy in closed trajectories with theoretical advantages that translate into efficient and fast implementation. Although validated using TLS data, the proposed pose-circuit correction model is sensor-agnostic and can be applied to other 3D mapping systems.