On the representation of rigid body transformations for accurate registration of free-form shapes

In this paper we consider representation issues of rigid body transformations based on geometric properties of reflected correspondence vectors. A sufficient and necessary representation of rigid body transformations is put forward followed by an accurate and robust algorithm for the registration of free-form surfaces. The algorithm makes full use of global rigid motion constraints derived from the representation of rigid body transformations and can effectively deal with occlusion, noise, and appearance and disappearance of points. A comparative study based on both synthetic data and real images show that the registration method is accurate and robust. © 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.