Learning Robotics using Python - Second Edition

Working with point clouds using Kinect, ROS, OpenNI, and PCL

A 3D point cloud is a way of representing a 3D environment and 3D objects as collection points along the x, y, and z axes. We can get a point cloud from various sources: Either we can create our point cloud by writing a program or we can generate it from depth sensors or laser scanners.

PCL supports the OpenNI 3D interfaces natively; thus, it can acquire and process data from devices (such as Prime Sensor's 3D cameras, Microsoft Kinect, or Asus Xtion Pro).

PCL will be included in the ROS full desktop installation. Let's see how we can generate and visualize a point cloud in RViz, a data visualization tool in ROS.