Patent ID: 6393143
Filing Date: 2002-05-21
Classification: G06T

Abstract:
A computer system for computing an estimated pose of an object from a range image containing the object, comprising:a computer for receiving scanned digital representation of known objects and performing the steps of: (a) applying a tripod operator at a random place on a digital representation of a surface shape whose pose it is later desired to estimate in the range image; (b) storing in a computer memory the feature vector and the relative pose of the tripod operator and the surface shape; (c) calculating if the density of the feature vector is greater than some predetermined threshold; (d) if the density of the feature vector is not greater than some predetermined threshold, reapplying a tripod operator, as in (a); (e) if the density of the feature vector is greater than some predetermined threshold, performing non-distinctive placement removal on the data in (b); said computer after receiving scanned digital representation of an unknown object known as a test range image and performing the steps of: (f) applying a tripod operator at a random place on the test range image; (g) matching a feature vector from (f) to the stored data in (b) for the unknown object; (h) if the feature vector is not within a predetermined distance of the stored feature data, reapplying a tripod operator, as in (f); (i) if the feature vector is within a predetermined distance of the stored feature data, computing an estimate of six pose parameters of the unknown object; and a utilizing device to receive the six pose parameters.