An integrated approach for range image segmentation and representation

Abstract

This paper proposes an efficient method for the segmentation and representation of 3D rigid, solid objects from its range images using differential invariants derived from classical differential geometry. An efficient algorithm for derivation of surface curvatures, which are affine invariants, at smooth surface patches is proposed. The surface is approximated by Bezier and Beta-splines to compare qualitatively the proposed segmentation scheme. This scheme leads to derivation of surface features, which provides a very robust surface segmentation. An integrated approach represents the surface in terms of plane, quadric and superquadric surface. Experiments show excellent performance and together with the inherent parallelism make the scheme a promising one. Present experiments were conducted on some real range images where most of the parts of the object are planar.