Abstract
Surface detection and parameter estimation in point cloud is a relevant subject in CAD/CAM, reverse engineering, computer vision, coordinate metrology and digital factory. In this paper we present a software for a fully automatic surface detection and parameter estimation in unordered, incomplete and error-contaminated point cloud with a large number of data points. The software consists of three algorithmic modules each for object identification, point segmentation, and model fitting, which work interactively. Our newly developed algorithms for orthogonal distance fitting(ODF) play a fundamental role in each of the three modules. The ODF algorithms estimate the model parameters by minimizing the square sum of the shortest distances between the model feature and the measurement points. We demonstrate the performance of the software on a variety of point clouds generated by laser radar, computer tomography, and stripe-projection method.
