Sensor Fusion of Range and Reflectance Data for Outdoor Scene Analysis

In recognizing objects in an outdoor scene, range and reflectance (or color) data provide complementary information. This paper presents the results of experiments in recognizing outdoor scenes containing roads. trees. and cars from the CMU Navlab (Navigation Laboratory) project. The recognition program uses range and reflectance data obtained by a scanning laser range finder, as well as color data from a color TV camera. After segmentation of each image into primitive regions, models of objects are matched using various properties.