Real-time 3D registration of stereo-vision based range images using GPU

3D registration is a computer vision technique of aligning multi-view range images with respect to a reference co-ordinate system. Aligning range images is an important and time-complex step in complete 3D reconstruction. In this paper, we propose a real-time 3D registration technique by employing the accelerated computing power of GPU (graphic processing unit). In the proposed technique, complete steps of a point-to-plane 3D registration technique are implemented using CUDA, an up-to-date GPU programming technique. Using a hand-held stereo-vision sensor, we apply the proposed technique to scan real objects. Registration of a pair of range images which size is 320×240 takes about 60 milliseconds in average. Results of 3D model reconstruction and processing time analysis are shown in experiments.