Finding the parts of objects in range images

A key problem in the interpretation of visual form is the partitioning of a shape into components that correspond to the parts of an object. This paper presents a method for partitioning a set of surface estimates obtained with a laser range finding system into subsets corresponding to such parts. Parts are defined implicitly by means of a feature set that identifies putative part boundaries that have been computed by external means. The strategy employed makes use of two complementary representations for surfaces: one that describes local structures in terms of differential properties (e.g., edges, lines, contours) and the other that represents the surface as a collection of smooth patches at different scales. It is shown that by enforcing a consistent interpretation between these two representations, it is possible to derive a partitioning algorithm that is both efficient and robust. Examples of its performance on a set of range images are presented. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.