Reconstruction of textured urban 3D model by fusing ground-based laser range and CCD images

In this paper, a method of fusing ground-based laser range image and CCD im ages for the reconstruction of textured 3D urban object is proposed. An acq uisition system is developed to capture laser range image and CCD images si multaneously from the same platform. A registration method is developed usi ng both laser range and CCD images in a coarse-to-fine process. Laser range images are registered with an assumption on sensor's setup, which aims at robustly detecting an initial configuration between the sensor's coordinate system of two views. CCD images are matched to refine the accuracy of the initial transformation, which might be degraded by improper sensor setup, u nreliable feature extraction, or limited by low spatial resolution of laser range image. Textured 3D model is generated using planar faces for Vertica l walls and triangular cells for ground surface, trees and bushes. Through an outdoor experiment of reconstructing a building using six views of laser range and CCD images, it is demonstrated that textured 3D model of urban o bjects can be generated in an automated manner.