Advances in 3D data acquisition and processing for industrial applications

A critical task of vision-based manufacturing applications is to generate a virtual representation of a physical object from a dataset of point clouds. Its success relies on reliable algorithms and tools. Many effective technologies have been developed to solve various problems involved in data acquisition and processing. Some articles are available on evaluating and reviewing these technologies and underlying methodologies. However, for most practitioners who lack a strong background on mathematics and computer science, it is hard to understand theoretical fundamentals of the methodologies. In this paper, we intend to survey and evaluate recent advances in data acquisition and progressing, and provide an overview from a manufacturing perspective. Some potential manufacturing applications have been introduced, the technical gaps between the practical requirements and existing technologies discussed, and research opportunities identified. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.