A closed form solution for relative orientation

Relative orientation is an important procedure and particularly useful when no reference datum must be connected to. Closed form solutions are advantageous over iterative solutions because they are independent of initial values. This paper details a closed form solution scheme for relative orientation, as originally proposed by Khlebnikova (1983). The formulation and decomposition of the algebraic parameters for relative orientation are extensively examined. The orthogonality of resulting rotation matrix is analyzed. A numerical example is provided to illustrate the procedures, and an equivalent exact model is proposed. -Author