Iterative closest geometric objects registration

In this paper, closed-form solutions are obtained for registering two sets of line segments, triangle patches, or even general simple geometric object s that are defined by a set of ordered points. Based on these new registrat ion approaches, the iterative closest line segment registration (ICL) algor ithm and the iterative closest triangle patch registration (ICT) algorithm are developed similar to the ICP algorithm. To simplify the mathematical re presentation, the concept of matrix scalar product is defined and some of i ts properties are given. The newly developed registration methods are teste d. The test shows that the ICL algorithm and the ICT algorithm work much be tter than the conventional ICP algorithm considering that the ICL and the I CT algorithms are much less sensitive to the initial orientations of the ob ject. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.