Robust edge extraction for SwissRanger SR-3000 range images

This paper presents a new method for extracting object edges from range images obtained by a 3D range imaging sensor the SwissRanger SR-3000. In range image preprocessing stage, the method enhances object edges by using surface normal information; and it employs the Hough Transform to detect straight line features in the Normal-Enhanced Range Image (NERI). Due to the noise in the sensor´s range data, a NERI contains corrupted object surfaces that may result in unwanted edges and greatly encumber the extraction of linear features. To alleviate this problem, a Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) filter is developed to smooth object surfaces. The efficacy of the edge extraction method is validated by experiments in various environments.