Range Image Feature Extraction using a Hexagonal Pixel-based Framework

Research to date within the area of range image processing has highlighted the many advantages of using range data to represent scenes in a 3-D manner. However, given the large volume of data associated with range images, processing and extracting relevant information from these images has presented a challenge. Due to the irregular distribution of data in many range image types, a resampling process is required to map the irregular data to a regular grid structure, providing an opportunity to resample directly to a uniform hexagonal framework. This paper therefore proposes a novel framework for range image feature extraction, which utilises the efficiency and accuracy of the hexagonal pixel- based framework.