Fast simultaneous alignment of multiple range images using index images

This paper describes a fast and easy-to-use simultaneous alignment method of multiple range images. The most time consuming part of alignment process is searching corresponding points. Although "Inverse calibration" method quickly searches corresponding points in complexity O(n), where n is the number of vertices, the method requires some look-up tables or precise sensors parameters. Then, we propose an easy-to-use method that uses "Index Image": "Index image " can be rapidly created using graphics hardware without precise sensor's parameters. For fast computation of rigid transformation matrices of a large number of range images, we utilized linearized error function and applied incomplete Cholesky conjugate gradient (ICCG) method for solving linear equations. Some experimental results that aligned a large number of range images measured with laser range sensors show the effectiveness of our method.