3-D Object Representation Using Parametric Geons

We propose parametric geons as a coarse description of object components for qualitative object recognition. Parametric geons are seven qualitative shape types defined by parameterized equations which control the size and degree of tapering and bending. Model recovery is performed by a procedure of model fitting and selection by minimizing an objective function measuring the similarities in both size and shape between models and objects. Multiple view data, parametric model constraints and global optimization are employed to obtain unique models and to compensate for noise and minor changes in object shape. This approach has been studied in experiments with both synthetic 3D data and actual rangefinder data of perfect and imperfect geon-like objects