METHOD FOR OBJECT REGISTRATION VIA SELECTION OF MODELS WITH DYNAMICALLY ORDERED FEATURES

A plurality of object models, where each object model comprises a plurality of features and is described by a model state, are registered in at least one image a subset of the object models is selected. Different object models have different sets of features, which may or may not overlap. A feature of each selected object model is registered in one of the images, and the model state for each selected object model is updated accordingly. The model states of some or all of the object models are then updated according to a set of constraints. These steps are repeated until one or more object models are registered. At the beginning of each registration cycle, a cost function of a subsequent search is determined for each unregistered feature of each object model. An unregistered feature of each object model is then selected such that the cost function is minimized. Object models to which the selected features belong are then selected, and each selected object model's selected feature is registered by matching it to an image. The selected unregistered features are ranked according to some criterion, such as the number of operations needed to search for a feature, i.e., the matching ambiguity. Object models are then selected according to the ranking. Preferably, a predetermined number of object models is selected each cycle.