Method and system to segment depth images and to detect shapes in three-dimensionally acquired data

One or more computer storage hardware devices having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that when executed by a computing device perform a method of three-dimensional (“3D”) image analysis, the method comprising:

• receiving 3D image data comprising a plurality of points having 3D coordinate information;
• pre-grouping points into sub-regions by comparing a first z-depth value for a given pixel with a second z-depth value for a neighboring pixel to determine whether a difference between the first z-depth value and the second z-depth value exceeds a threshold that is used to determine whether the given pixel and the neighboring pixel are assigned the same sub-region;
• grouping at least some points within a sub-region to form a segment corresponding to a real-world object of interest;
• calculating an image cluster center for the segment;
• and
• modeling the segment as a plurality of geometric primitive shapes.

A method of object analysis using three-dimensional image data, the method comprising:

• receiving 3D image data comprising a plurality of points having 3D coordinate information;
• pre-grouping points into sub-regions based upon a histogram record of z-depth values;
• grouping at least some points within a sub-region to form a segment corresponding to a real-world object;
• calculating an image cluster center for the segment;
• and
• modeling the segment as a plurality of geometric primitive shapes.