1. Introduction -- 2. Least-Squares Orthogonal Distance Fitting -- 3. Orthogonal Distance Fitting of Implicit Curves and Surfaces -- 4. Orthogonal Distance Fitting of Parametric Curves and Surfaces -- 5. Object Reconstruction from Unordered Point Cloud -- 6. Conclusions.

Due to the continuing progress of sensor technology, the availability of 3-D cameras is already foreseeable. These cameras are capable of generating a large set of measurement points within a very short time. There are a variety of 3-D camera applications in the fields of robotics, rapid product development and digital factories. In order to not only visualize the point cloud but also to recognize 3-D object models from the point cloud and then further process them in CAD systems, efficient and stable algorithms for 3-D information processing are required. For the automatic segmentation and recognition of such geometric primitives as plane, sphere, cylinder, cone and torus in a 3-D point cloud, efficient software has recently been developed at the Fraunhofer IPA by Sung Joon Ahn. This book describes in detail the complete set of ‘best-fit’ algorithms for general curves and surfaces in space which are employed in the Fraunhofer software.