Iterative most likely oriented point registration.

A new algorithm for model based registration is presented that optimizes both position and surface normal information of the shapes being registered. This algorithm extends the popular Iterative Closest Point (ICP) algorithm by incorporating the surface orientation at each point into both the correspondence and registration phases of the algorithm. For the correspondence phase an efficient search strategy is derived which computes the most probable correspondences considering both position and orientation differences in the match. For the registration phase an efficient, closed-form solution provides the maximum likelihood rigid body alignment between the oriented point matches. Experiments by simulation using human femur data demonstrate that the proposed Iterative Most Likely Oriented Point (IMLOP) algorithm has a strong accuracy advantage over ICP and has increased ability to robustly identify a successful registration result.