An analytical approach to evaluate point cloud registration error utilizing targets

Point cloud registration is essential for processing terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) point cloud datasets. The registration precision directly influences and determines the practical usefulness of TLS surveys. However, in terms of target based registration, analytical point cloud registration error models employed by scanner manufactures are only suitable to evaluate target registration error, rather than point cloud registration error. This paper proposes an new analytical approach called the registration error (RE) model to directly evaluate point cloud registration error. We verify the proposed model by comparing RE and root mean square error (RMSE) for all points in three point clouds that are approximately equivalent.