DST-Calib: A Dual-Path, Self-Supervised, Target-Free LiDAR-Camera Extrinsic Calibration Network

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Huang, Zhiwei, Fu, Yanwei, Zhou, Yi, Chen, Xieyuanli, Chen, Qijun, Fan, Rui
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Huang, Zhiwei
Fu, Yanwei
Zhou, Yi
Chen, Xieyuanli
Chen, Qijun
Fan, Rui
author_facet Huang, Zhiwei
Fu, Yanwei
Zhou, Yi
Chen, Xieyuanli
Chen, Qijun
Fan, Rui
contents LiDAR-camera extrinsic calibration is essential for multi-modal data fusion in robotic perception systems. However, existing approaches typically rely on handcrafted calibration targets (e.g., checkerboards) or specific, static scene types, limiting their adaptability and deployment in real-world autonomous and robotic applications. This article presents the first self-supervised LiDAR-camera extrinsic calibration network that operates in an online fashion and eliminates the need for specific calibration targets. We first identify a significant generalization degradation problem in prior methods, caused by the conventional single-sided data augmentation strategy. To overcome this limitation, we propose a novel double-sided data augmentation technique that generates multi-perspective camera views using estimated depth maps, thereby enhancing robustness and diversity during training. Built upon this augmentation strategy, we design a dual-path, self-supervised calibration framework that reduces the dependence on high-precision ground truth labels and supports fully adaptive online calibration. Furthermore, to improve cross-modal feature association, we replace the traditional dual-branch feature extraction design with a difference map construction process that explicitly correlates LiDAR and camera features. This not only enhances calibration accuracy but also reduces model complexity. Extensive experiments conducted on five public benchmark datasets, as well as our own recorded dataset, demonstrate that the proposed method significantly outperforms existing approaches in terms of generalizability.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_01188
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle DST-Calib: A Dual-Path, Self-Supervised, Target-Free LiDAR-Camera Extrinsic Calibration Network
Huang, Zhiwei
Fu, Yanwei
Zhou, Yi
Chen, Xieyuanli
Chen, Qijun
Fan, Rui
Robotics
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
LiDAR-camera extrinsic calibration is essential for multi-modal data fusion in robotic perception systems. However, existing approaches typically rely on handcrafted calibration targets (e.g., checkerboards) or specific, static scene types, limiting their adaptability and deployment in real-world autonomous and robotic applications. This article presents the first self-supervised LiDAR-camera extrinsic calibration network that operates in an online fashion and eliminates the need for specific calibration targets. We first identify a significant generalization degradation problem in prior methods, caused by the conventional single-sided data augmentation strategy. To overcome this limitation, we propose a novel double-sided data augmentation technique that generates multi-perspective camera views using estimated depth maps, thereby enhancing robustness and diversity during training. Built upon this augmentation strategy, we design a dual-path, self-supervised calibration framework that reduces the dependence on high-precision ground truth labels and supports fully adaptive online calibration. Furthermore, to improve cross-modal feature association, we replace the traditional dual-branch feature extraction design with a difference map construction process that explicitly correlates LiDAR and camera features. This not only enhances calibration accuracy but also reduces model complexity. Extensive experiments conducted on five public benchmark datasets, as well as our own recorded dataset, demonstrate that the proposed method significantly outperforms existing approaches in terms of generalizability.
title DST-Calib: A Dual-Path, Self-Supervised, Target-Free LiDAR-Camera Extrinsic Calibration Network
topic Robotics
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.01188