Abstract: A software procedure, with associated hardware, for estimating the pose of an object from a range image containing the object. A range image is a two dimensional array of numbers which represent the distances from a reference point in the range imaging instrument to observed surface points in a scene. All six parameters of the pose of an object are estimated; three translational and three angular parameters. A new technique known as “non-pose-distinctive placement removal” is combined with tripod operators (TOs), a method for interpreting range images, and is comprised of two steps. The first is training the system on a new object so that it will later be able to estimate the pose of that object when seen again in some range image. The second is the actual pose estimation, where a TO is placed at a random location on a new range image containing the object of interest. Then the nearest neighbor in feature space, the nearpoint, is computed.

Abstract: A software procedure, with associated hardware, for estimating the pose of an object from a range image containing the object. A range image is a two dimensional array of numbers which represent the distances from a reference point in the range imaging instrument to observed surface points in a scene. All six parameters of the pose of an object are estimated; three translational and three angular parameters. A new technique known as “non-pose-distinctive placement removal” is combined with of tripod operators (TOs), a method for interpreting range images, and is comprised of two steps. The first is training the system on a new object so that it will later be able to estimate the pose of that object when seen again in some range image. The second is the actual pose estimation, where a TO is placed at a random location on a new range image containing the object of interest. Then the nearest neighbor in feature space, the nearpoint, is computed.

Abstract: A high-resolution range imaging system and method can sense the presence of and determine the position or range of each point on the surface of an object through triangulation calculation methods. A moving pattern of light is projected onto the object to be imaged. This resulting moving light pattern, comprised of vertical planes of light, is achieved by projecting light through a moving mask having a DeBruijn code formed thereon, the light being projected through the mask to provide blurring. The light source has a slit or the like which is between one and two times as wide as the narrowest stripe on the mask. Each light ray of the incoming reflected light pattern is recorded by a detecting device, such as a charge coupled device camera (CCD camera). The detecting device measures the blurring of the light pattern and records the associated gray-scale value, a measurement of the reflected light intensity, at each pixel location.