Statistical methods for 2D-3D registration of optical and LIDAR images

Fusion of 3D laser radar (LIDAR) imagery and aerial optical imagery is an efficient method for constructing 3D virtual reality models. One difficult aspect of creating such models is registering the optical image with the LIDAR point cloud, which is a camera pose estimation problem. We propose a novel application of mutual information registration which exploits statistical dependencies in urban scenes, using variables such as LIDAR elevation, LIDAR probability of detection (pdet), and optical luminance. We employ the well known downhill simplex optimization to infer camera pose parameters. Utilization of OpenGL and graphics hardware in the optimization process yields registration times on the order of seconds. Using an initial registration comparable to GPS/INS accuracy, we demonstrate the utility of our algorithms with a collection of urban images. Our analysis begins with three basic methods for measuring mutual information. We demonstrate the utility of the mutual information measures with a series of probing experiments and registration tests. We improve the basic algorithms with a novel application of foliage detection, where the use of only non-foliage points improves registration reliability significantly. Finally, we show how the use of an existing registered optical image can be used in conjunction with foliage detection to achieve even more reliable registration.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• Mastin, Dana Andrew

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• John W. Fisher, III.

• Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/55123

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/55123