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View Planning for Multi-View Stereo 3D Reconstruction Using an Autonomous Multicopter

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Abstract

Multi-view stereo algorithms are an attractive technique for the digital reconstruction of outdoor sites. Concerning the data acquisition process a vertical take off and landing UAV carrying a digital camera is a suitable platform in terms of mobility and flexibility in viewpoint placement. We introduce an automated UAV based data acquisition and outdoor site reconstruction system. A special focus is set on the problem of model based view planning using a coarse digital surface model (DSM) with minimal data preprocessing. The developed view planning heuristic considers a coverage, a maximum view angle and an overlapping constraint imposed by multi-view stereo reconstruction techniques. The time complexity of the algorithm is linear with respect to the size of the area of interest. We demonstrate the efficiency of the entire system in two scenarios, a building and a hillside.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Perception and Cognition, Robotics and Mechatronics Center (RMC), German Aerospace Center (DLR), Muenchner Str. 20, 82234, Wessling, Germany

    Korbinian Schmid, Heiko Hirschmüller, Andreas Dömel, Iris Grixa & Michael Suppa

  2. Robotics and Mechatronics Center (RMC), German Aerospace Center (DLR), Muenchner Str. 20, 82234, Wessling, Germany

    Gerd Hirzinger

Authors
  1. Korbinian Schmid
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  2. Heiko Hirschmüller
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  3. Andreas Dömel
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  4. Iris Grixa
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  5. Michael Suppa
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  6. Gerd Hirzinger
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Correspondence to Korbinian Schmid.

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Schmid, K., Hirschmüller, H., Dömel, A. et al. View Planning for Multi-View Stereo 3D Reconstruction Using an Autonomous Multicopter. J Intell Robot Syst 65, 309–323 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10846-011-9576-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10846-011-9576-2

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