Fast global registration of 3D sampled surfaces using a multi-z-buffer technique

We present a new method for the global registration of several overlapping three-dimensional (3D) surfaces sampled on an object. The method is based on the ICP algorithm and on a segmentation of the unstructured sampled points in an optimized set of z-buffers. This multi-z-buffer technique provides a 3D space partitioning which allows the registration process to detect quickly all the overlapping surfaces and to concentrate on them even when the surfaces overlap each other only slightly. It also greatly accelerates the search of the nearest neighbours in the establishment of the point-to-point correspondence between two overlapping surfaces. Then a randomized iterative registration is processed on the surface set. We have tested an implementation of this technique on real sampled surfaces. It appears to be rapid, accurate and robust, especially in the case of highly curved objects. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.