document: A maximum-likelihood surface estimator for dense range data Describes how to estimate 3D surface models from dense sets of noisy range data taken from different points of view , i.e. , multiple range maps . The proposed method uses a sensor model to develop an expression for the likelihood of a 3D surface , conditional on a set of noisy range measurements . Optimizing this likelihood with respect to the model parameters provides an unbiased and efficient estimator . The proposed numerical algorithms make this estimation computationally practical for a wide variety of circumstances . The results from this method compare favorably with state-of-the-art approaches that rely on the closest-point or perpendicular distance metric , a convenient heuristic that produces biased solutions and fails completely when surfaces are not sufficiently smooth , as in the case of complex scenes or noisy range measurements . Empirical results on both simulated and real ladar data demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method for several different types of problems . Furthermore , the proposed method offers a general framework that can accommodate extensions to include surface priors , more sophisticated noise models , and other sensing modalities , such as sonar or synthetic aperture radar
doc_bio_tags: O O O O O B I I O O O O B I I O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O B I I O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O B I I
extractive_keyphrases: dense range data 3d surface models noisy range data sensor model heuristic biased solutions complex scenes noisy range measurements real ladar data sonar synthetic aperture radar
abstractive_keyphrases: maximum-likelihood surface estimator unbiased estimator simulated ladar data surface reconstruction surface fitting optimal estimation parameter estimation bayesian estimation registration calibration