Point cloud library (PCL) and Open Computer Vision (OpenCV) toolkit for labview

[Klemen]

Hello,

this post will be extremely brief. I am putting together some  PCL (http://pointclouds.org/) and OpenCV (http://opencv.org/) functions that can be used in Labview directly via a .dll function call. So far, the following functionalities are implemented in Labview (there is a .vi in the toolkit that returns the current version of the toolkit):

PCL:

- downsample filter

- moving least squares filter

- statistical outliers removal filter

- passthrough filter

- kinect OpenNI based grabber (QVGA and VGA resolution)

- range image from point cloud

- sample consensus rough alignment and icp registration

- point cloud visualizer

- point cloud visualizer with real-tme redraw

OpenCV:

- bilateral filter

- face detection (Haar classifier) and eye detection (Haar classifier)

- grab cut segmentation

- histogram image matching

- histogram of oriented gradients human (pedestrian) detection

- Hough circles detection

- SURF real-time tracking

- template matching

- Shi-Tomasi corner detector

- Harris corner detector

- subpixel corner refinement

- Kalman filter/tracking (constant velocity and constant acceleration model)

- Hough lines detection

- Hough lines detection (probabilistic)

- histogram back projection (hue-saturation histogram backprojection)

- box filter

- Gaussian filter

- median filter

- Canny edge detection

- Sobel edge detection

- Scharr edge detection

- meanshift tracking (hue-saturation histogram backprojection)

- camshift tracking (hue-saturation histogram backprojection)

- face/object tracking (goodFeaturesToTrack->opticalFlow->similarity transform)

- stereo calibration and measurement

THERE ARE ALSO LABVIEW EXAMPLES FOR ALL ABOVE IMPLEMENTED FUNCTIONALITIES. The attached file named "PCL_OpenCV_LabviewToolkit_x64.zip" contains the .dll which is compiled agains x64 libraries. This .dll will not be updated as frequently as the toolkit (which is compiled against x86). In order to get it working, you need to relink the .dll paths.

Both PCL and OpenCV libraries are really extensive, so I plan to add some additional functions as the time goes by (no timeframes, since this is a hobby project).

To make things more simple and clear, all functions listed above have a corresponding example in Labview. The Labview code is in some cases a bit messy, but I do not have the energy nor the time to also make it look pretty. The most important thing is that all the examples have been tested and are 100% working. There are some issues with the PCL visualizers, so always close the visualizer window first and only then stop the Labview program. If you close a program that uses the visualizer functionality, close Labview also and restart the program/project.

The .dll's  were built using PCL 1.6.0 and OpenCV 2.4.9, so you need to have both. Also, please report in the comments box if the examples are working with other versions of PCL and/or OpenCV. If anybody cleans up the examples further, please let me know, so I can make modifications that will make things even more clear for potential users.

I have packed the toolkit with the JKI VI package manager, so you need to download it from:

http://jki.net/vipm

to be able to install the toolkit. This adds the toolkit to the block diagram pallete and simplifies things. There is also an addon that is not packed, since I was having some issues. I am talking ablout the 3D visualizer with real-time redraw, so in order to use it, you would need to manually add the function to your project via the "Select a VI" option on the block diagram pallete.

Also, if you are having any other issues, please report them in the comment box below.

P.S.: Some paths of the addon might be broken, but just point to them manually.

I HAVE REBUILT THE TOOLKIT USING OpenCV 2.4.9.

Also, you need to add the "bin" paths to the environment variables in order for the toolkit to work. In my case:

C:\Program Files (x86)\PCL 1.6.0\bin

C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenCV 2.4.9\opencv\build\x86\vc10\bin

Best regards,

K

P.s: There was some problem with the SURF tracking example (and coding), which was fixed 20.4.2015. If anyone experiences errors, download the toolkit again. All examples were tested.