Target-based terrestrial laser scan registration extended by target orientation

Abstract In almost all projects, in which terrestrial laser scanning is used, the scans must be registered after the data acquisition. Despite more and more new and automated methods for registration, the classical target-based registration is still one of the standard procedures. The advantages are obvious: independence from the scan object, the geometric configuration can often be influenced and registration results are easy to interpret. When plane black-and-white targets are used, the algorithm for estimating the target center fits a plane through the scan of a target, anyway. This information about the plane orientation has remained unused so far. Hence, including this information in the registration does not require any additional effort in the scanning process. In this paper, we extend the target-based registration by the plane orientation. We describe the required methodology, analyze the benefits in terms of precision and reliability and discuss in which cases the extension is useful and brings a relevant advantage. Based on simulations and two case studies we find out that especially for registrations with bad geometric configurations the extension brings a big advantage. The extension enables registrations that are much more precise. These are also visible on the registered point clouds. Thus, only a methodological change in the target-based registration improves its results.