Representation and recognition of objects from dense range maps

In this paper, we present a system for object representation and recognition from dense range maps. The system addresses three problems, namely (i) object representation from single view dense range map, (ii) integrating data or descriptions from multiple views for model construction, and (iii) matching descriptions from a single unknown view to models. Although the main goal of this paper is to develop an algorithm for solving the problem (iii) stated above, to give a complete overview of our system, we will briefly outline our solution techniques with the aid of examples, for problems (i) and (ii) as well. The objects and models are represented by regions that are a collection of surface patches homogeneous in certain intrinsic surface properties. The recognition scheme is based on matching object surface descriptions with model surface descriptions. The recognition task includes both locating the overall object and identifying its features. Location is achieved by finding a geometrical registration function that correctly superimposes an arbitrary instance of the known model and the model. A localization technique is presented which requires that correspondence be established exactly, between one point on the object surface and one on the model surface. Once the single point correspondence is specified, closed-form solutions are given for determining the attitude of the unknown view of the object in 3 space with respect to the model.