A method and apparatus for point cloud assembly are described. In one embodiment,
the method includes the obtaining of a data set of a first point cloud and a data
set of a second point cloud. Once obtained, a portion of geometry defined by each
respective data set is identified, which substantially describes a similar geometric
shape. Next, a transformation is computed, such that the portion of geometry in
each data set aligns to substantially minimize alignment error. Finally, the computed
transformation is applied to the first point cloud to register the first point
cloud relative to the second point cloud. In one embodiment, identification of
the geometric portion describing a substantially similar geometric shape may be
performed utilizing geometric reference point information, image texture information
or a combination thereof.
