Local line segments as primitives for scene understanding

With the increasing sophistication of sensors such as 3D laser range finders and their use in more complex environments, new approaches for the efficient processing of 2 and 3D point data are becoming more and more important. We develop algorithms for finding and using line segments as primitives for processing such data, and explore the benefits of such a choice. Line segments are simple enough to allow for relatively efficient detection algorithms, but are sophisticated enough to support tracking of dynamic obstacles over time. Further, such a parametric representation of the environment is better suited to deal with the noise inherent in dynamic, real-world environments. We develop a locally-adaptive line-detection algorithm, the output of which is used in a line-segment tracker. The resulting representation is shown to alleviate some of the problems in ray-tracing a dynamic obstacle map.