C. Mercer

Bio: C. Mercer is an academic researcher from Glenn Research Center. The author has contributed to research in topics: Object model & System model. The author has an hindex of 3, co-authored 3 publications receiving 293 citations.

Registration and integration of multiple object views for 3D model construction

Abstract: Automatic 3D object model construction is important in applications ranging from manufacturing to entertainment, since CAD models of existing objects may be either unavailable or unusable. We describe a prototype system for automatically registering and integrating multiple views of objects from range data. The results can then be used to construct geometric models of the objects. New techniques for handling key problems such as robust estimation of transformations relating multiple views and seamless integration of registered data to form an unbroken surface have been proposed and implemented in the system. Experimental results on real surface data acquired using a digital interferometric sensor as well as a laser range scanner demonstrate the good performance of our system.

From images to models: automatic 3D object model construction from multiple views

Abstract: Automatic 3D object model construction is important in applications ranging from manufacturing to entertainment industry, since CAD models of existing objects may be either unavailable or unusable. We describe a prototype system for automatically registering and integrating multiple views of objects using surface depth data to construct their geometric models. New techniques for handling key issues such as robust estimation of view transformations relating multiple views and seamless integration of registered data to form an unbroken surface have been proposed and implemented in our system. Our system has been tested on depth data that were obtained using digital interferometry techniques as well as a laser range scanner. Experimental results on real object surfaces demonstrate the good performance of our system.

Local weight selection for two-dimensional phase unwrapping

Abstract: Local weights in phase unwrapping play an important role in guiding the flow of the phase integration. Unwrapping algorithms can proceed in a path-following or a non-path-following fashion. In path-following phase unwrapping algorithms, local weights guide the selection of unwrapping paths. In nonpath-following algorithms, the introduction of predetermined local weights is necessary to accommodate phase inconsistencies in practice. In current unwrapping algorithms, these local weights are extracted either from the quality information (correlation in interferometric synthetic aperture radar and modulation in phase shifting interferometry) or from the information contained in the wrapped phase difference alone. In other words, the crucial issue is how a phase unwrapping algorithm should select these location-associated weights in order to prevent the propagation of phase errors. This paper presents a quantitative scheme for selecting local weights for phase unwrapping opt the basis of both these types of information (the quality map and the wrapped phase). Real objects as well as synthetic ones have been investigated for various unwrapping methods in experiments. Integrated 3D free-form object models demonstrate the validity of the phasor-weighted phase unwrapping approach.

Efficient variants of the ICP algorithm

Abstract: The ICP (Iterative Closest Point) algorithm is widely used for geometric alignment of three-dimensional models when an initial estimate of the relative pose is known. Many variants of ICP have been proposed, affecting all phases of the algorithm from the selection and matching of points to the minimization strategy. We enumerate and classify many of these variants, and evaluate their effect on the speed with which the correct alignment is reached. In order to improve convergence for nearly-flat meshes with small features, such as inscribed surfaces, we introduce a new variant based on uniform sampling of the space of normals. We conclude by proposing a combination of ICP variants optimized for high speed. We demonstrate an implementation that is able to align two range images in a few tens of milliseconds, assuming a good initial guess. This capability has potential application to real-time 3D model acquisition and model-based tracking.

The ball-pivoting algorithm for surface reconstruction

Abstract: The Ball-Pivoting Algorithm (BPA) computes a triangle mesh interpolating a given point cloud. Typically, the points are surface samples acquired with multiple range scans of an object. The principle of the BPA is very simple: Three points form a triangle if a ball of a user-specified radius p touches them without containing any other point. Starting with a seed triangle, the ball pivots around an edge (i.e., it revolves around the edge while keeping in contact with the edge's endpoints) until it touches another point, forming another triangle. The process continues until all reachable edges have been tried, and then starts from another seed triangle, until all points have been considered. The process can then be repeated with a ball of larger radius to handle uneven sampling densities. We applied the BPA to datasets of millions of points representing actual scans of complex 3D objects. The relatively small amount of memory required by the BPA, its time efficiency, and the quality of the results obtained compare favorably with existing techniques.

Multiview registration for large data sets

Abstract: We present a multiview registration method for aligning range data. We first align scans pairwise with each other and use the pairwise alignments as constraints that the multiview step enforces while evenly diffusing the pairwise registration errors. This approach is especially suitable for registering large data sets, since using constraints from pairwise alignments does not require loading the entire data set into memory to perform the alignment. The alignment method is efficient, and it is less likely to get stuck into a local minimum than previous methods, and can be used in conjunction with any pairwise method based on aligning overlapping surface sections.

Least squares 3D surface and curve matching

Abstract: The automatic co-registration of point clouds, representing 3D surfaces, is a relevant problem in 3D modeling. This multiple registration problem can be defined as a surface matching task. We treat it as least squares matching of overlapping surfaces. The surface may have been digitized/sampled point by point using a laser scanner device, a photogrammetric method or other surface measurement techniques. Our proposed method estimates the transformation parameters of one or more 3D search surfaces with respect to a 3D template surface, using the Generalized Gauss–Markoff model, minimizing the sum of squares of the Euclidean distances between the surfaces. This formulation gives the opportunity of matching arbitrarily oriented 3D surface patches. It fully considers 3D geometry. Besides the mathematical model and execution aspects we address the further extensions of the basic model. We also show how this method can be used for curve matching in 3D space and matching of curves to surfaces. Some practical examples based on the registration of close-range laser scanner and photogrammetric point clouds are presented for the demonstration of the method. This surface matching technique is a generalization of the least squares image matching concept and offers high flexibility for any kind of 3D surface correspondence problem, as well as statistical tools for the analysis of the quality of final matching results.

The 3D Model Acquisition Pipeline

Abstract: Three-dimensional (3D) image acquisition systems are rapidly becoming more affordable, especially systems based on commodity electronic cameras. At the same time, personal computers with graphics hardware capable of displaying complex 3D models are also becoming inexpensive enough to be available to a large population. As a result, there is potentially an opportunity to consider new virtual reality applications as diverse as cultural heritage and retail sales that will allow people to view realistic 3D objects on home computers. Although there are many physical techniques for acquiring 3D data—including laser scanners, structured light and time-of-flight—there is a basic pipeline of operations for taking the acquired data and producing a usable numerical model. We look at the fundamental problems of range image registration, line-of-sight errors, mesh integration, surface detail and color, and texture mapping. In the area of registration we consider both the problems of finding an initial global alignment using manual and automatic means, and refining this alignment with variations of the Iterative Closest Point methods. To account for scanner line-of-sight errors we compare several averaging approaches. In the area of mesh integration, that is finding a single mesh joining the data from all scans, we compare various methods for computing interpolating and approximating surfaces. We then look at various ways in which surface properties such as color (more properly, spectral reflectance) can be extracted from acquired imagery. Finally, we examine techniques for producing a final model representation that can be efficiently rendered using graphics hardware.