R&D of versatile 3D vision system VVV

We are developing an advanced 3D vision system VVV (Versatile Volumetric Vision) which can be used for many purposes in many fields; robotics, medical and welfare, CAD, VR, etc. The basic processes of 3D vision are range sensing of a 3D scene, describing 3D shape of objects in the scene, and recognizing the 3D position and orientation of objects by matching with object models. Also, moving objects can be tracked by repeating these processes. For the system to be versatile, it consistently executes these processes and makes no assumption on objects; objects may be any size, any shape (figures, polyhedra to free forms), covered with textured or glossy surfaces, at any position, in any direction, together with other objects, and partially occluded by them. The basic technical approach is structural analysis and partial pattern matching. And, the basic policy of development is to separate "functions" which are common to all tasks and "knowledges" which are specific to each task.