View planning and automated data acquisition for three‐dimensional modeling of complex sites

Abstract Constructing highly detailed three‐dimensional (3‐D) models of large complex sites using range scanners can be a time‐consuming manual process. One of the main drawbacks is determining where to place the scanner to obtain complete coverage of a site. We have developed a system for automatic view planning called VuePlan. When combined with our mobile robot, AVENUE, we have a system that is capable of modeling large‐scale environments with minimal human intervention throughout both the planning and acquisition phases. The system proceeds in two distinct stages. In the initial phase, the system is given a two‐dimensional site footprint with which it plans a minimal set of sufficient and properly constrained covering views. We then use a 3‐D laser scanner to take scans at each of these views. When this planning system is combined with our mobile robot it automatically computes and executes a tour of these viewing locations and acquires them with the robot's onboard laser scanner. These initial scans serve as an approximate 3‐D model of the site. The planning software then enters a second phase in which it updates this model by using a voxel‐based occupancy procedure to plan the next best view (NBV). This NBV is acquired, and further NBVs are sequentially computed and acquired until an accurate and complete 3‐D model is obtained. A simulator tool that we developed has allowed us to test our entire view planning algorithm on simulated sites. We have also successfully used our two‐phase system to construct precise 3‐D models of real‐world sites located in New York City: Uris Hall on the campus of Columbia University and Fort Jay on Governors Island. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.