3-D Map Reconstruction from Range Data

We present techniques for building models of complex environments from range data gathered at multiple viewpoints. The challenges in this problem are: the matching of unregistered views without prior knowledge of pose, the use of very large data sets, and the manipulation of data sets of different resolutions and from different sensors. Our approach is unique in that no prior knowledge of the relative viewpoints is needed in order to register the data. We show results in building maps of interior environment from range finding data, building large terrain maps from ground-based and from aerial data, and from an operational for mapping from stereo data for hazardous environment characterization. The paper summarizes the major results obtained so far in this area.

Authors

• Daniel F. Huber
• Owen T. Carmichael
• Martial Hebert

Keywords

• Buildings
• Merging
• Coordinate measuring machines
• Shape measurement
• Robots
• Surface reconstruction
• Terrain mapping
• Virtual environment
• Libraries
• Text recognition
• Scan Range
• Environmental Model
• Terrain Map
• Surface Matching
• Dataset Size
• Matching Algorithm
• 3D Mesh
• Range Of Sensors
• Triangular Mesh
• Registration Algorithm
• Local Shape
• Laser Ranging
• Variable Resolution
• Influential Points
• Basis Points
• Terrain Data