Structural-surface extraction from 3-D laser radar point clouds

James R. Lersch; Brian N. Webb; Karen F. West

doi:10.1117/12.542701

13 September 2004 Structural-surface extraction from 3D laser radar point clouds

James R. Lersch, Brian N. Webb, Karen F. West

Proceedings Volume 5412, Laser Radar Technology and Applications IX; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.542701
Event: Defense and Security, 2004, Orlando, Florida, United States

Abstract

Structural segmentation of 3-D point-cloud data is an important step in the acquisition, recognition and visual representation of objects from point data. Associating groups of points that are consistent with structural surface elements allows decision making based on object components that are much more meaningful that the points alone. Processing begins by filtering the 3-D point-cloud data to smooth surfaces and remove noise. Filtering is essential for accurate surface-normal estimation. Our point filtering algorithm steps a 3-D box through the data, using an efficient search algorithm that employs priority queues for sequential sorting in x, y, and z. Filtering is based on the computation of a best planar fit at each box location. After filtering, processing continues by again stepping through the data and computing local surface normals at each filtered point. We then compute a Minimum Spanning Tree (MST) with nodes consisting of the filtered points, edges established by proximity, and edge weights set as the Euclidean distance between local surface normals. A modified range tree that is computed on the fly from unsorted point data is used in implementing the MST. We then employ a novel procedure to determine the edges that should be broken, leaving subgraphs that represent structural surfaces. These surfaces have been used for visual display of 3-D LADAR data, extraction of surfaces for automatic detection of buildings, and differentiation between man-made and natural objects.

Citation Download Citation

James R. Lersch, Brian N. Webb, and Karen F. West "Structural-surface extraction from 3D laser radar point clouds", Proc. SPIE 5412, Laser Radar Technology and Applications IX, (13 September 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.542701

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