STRIP HISTOGRAM GRID FOR EFFICIENT SEGMENTATION OF 3D POINT CLOUDS FROM URBAN ENVIRONMENTS

A method of recognizing features in a 3D environment includes using a sensor that collects a plurality of sensed data points, populating a strip histogram grid having a plurality of strips, each strip having a dx dimension and a dy dimension, by assigning each sensed data point to a strip in the strip histogram grid that has x, y and z dimensions that encompass the spatial coordinate information of the respective assigned sensed data point, and estimating the local ground plane for a strip in the strip histogram grid by using information on each sensed data point assigned to that strip and surrounding strips in the strip histogram grid. Further methods include extracting smooth surfaces, building segmentation, top down segmentation and bottom up segmentation.