Mapping with depth panoramas

This work demonstrates the use of depth panoramas in the construction of detailed 3D models of extended environments. The paper describes an approach to the acquisition of such panoramic images using a robotic platform that collects sequences of depth images with a commodity depth sensor. These sequences are stitched into panoramic images that efficiently capture scene information while reducing noise in the captured imagery. Scene structure is extracted from the panoramas and used to register a collection of panoramas to obtain coverage of extended areas. The presented approach maintains fine geometry detail in 3D reconstructions, uses a modest amount of memory, and enjoys excellent scaling characteristics across large environments.