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Main Authors: Soutullo, Samuel, Yermo, Miguel, Vilariño, David L., Lorenzo, Óscar G., Cabaleiro, José C., Rivera, Francisco F.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.20708
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author Soutullo, Samuel
Yermo, Miguel
Vilariño, David L.
Lorenzo, Óscar G.
Cabaleiro, José C.
Rivera, Francisco F.
author_facet Soutullo, Samuel
Yermo, Miguel
Vilariño, David L.
Lorenzo, Óscar G.
Cabaleiro, José C.
Rivera, Francisco F.
contents 3D LiDAR sensors are essential for autonomous navigation, environmental monitoring, and precision mapping in remote sensing applications. To efficiently process the massive point clouds generated by these sensors, LiDAR data is often projected into 2D range images that organize points by their angular positions and distances. While these range image representations enable efficient processing, conventional projection methods suffer from fundamental geometric inconsistencies that cause irreversible information loss, compromising high-fidelity applications. We present ALICE-LRI (Automatic LiDAR Intrinsic Calibration Estimation for Lossless Range Images), the first general, sensor-agnostic method that achieves lossless range image generation from spinning LiDAR point clouds without requiring manufacturer metadata or calibration files. Our algorithm automatically reverse-engineers the intrinsic geometry of any spinning LiDAR sensor by inferring critical parameters including laser beam configuration, angular distributions, and per-beam calibration corrections, enabling lossless projection and complete point cloud reconstruction with zero point loss. Comprehensive evaluation across the complete KITTI and DurLAR datasets demonstrates that ALICE-LRI achieves perfect point preservation, with zero points lost across all point clouds. Geometric accuracy is maintained well within sensor precision limits, establishing geometric losslessness with real-time performance. We also present a compression case study that validates substantial downstream benefits, demonstrating significant quality improvements in practical applications. This paradigm shift from approximate to lossless LiDAR projections opens new possibilities for high-precision remote sensing applications requiring complete geometric preservation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_20708
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle ALICE-LRI: A General Method for Lossless Range Image Generation for Spinning LiDAR Sensors without Calibration Metadata
Soutullo, Samuel
Yermo, Miguel
Vilariño, David L.
Lorenzo, Óscar G.
Cabaleiro, José C.
Rivera, Francisco F.
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Robotics
3D LiDAR sensors are essential for autonomous navigation, environmental monitoring, and precision mapping in remote sensing applications. To efficiently process the massive point clouds generated by these sensors, LiDAR data is often projected into 2D range images that organize points by their angular positions and distances. While these range image representations enable efficient processing, conventional projection methods suffer from fundamental geometric inconsistencies that cause irreversible information loss, compromising high-fidelity applications. We present ALICE-LRI (Automatic LiDAR Intrinsic Calibration Estimation for Lossless Range Images), the first general, sensor-agnostic method that achieves lossless range image generation from spinning LiDAR point clouds without requiring manufacturer metadata or calibration files. Our algorithm automatically reverse-engineers the intrinsic geometry of any spinning LiDAR sensor by inferring critical parameters including laser beam configuration, angular distributions, and per-beam calibration corrections, enabling lossless projection and complete point cloud reconstruction with zero point loss. Comprehensive evaluation across the complete KITTI and DurLAR datasets demonstrates that ALICE-LRI achieves perfect point preservation, with zero points lost across all point clouds. Geometric accuracy is maintained well within sensor precision limits, establishing geometric losslessness with real-time performance. We also present a compression case study that validates substantial downstream benefits, demonstrating significant quality improvements in practical applications. This paradigm shift from approximate to lossless LiDAR projections opens new possibilities for high-precision remote sensing applications requiring complete geometric preservation.
title ALICE-LRI: A General Method for Lossless Range Image Generation for Spinning LiDAR Sensors without Calibration Metadata
topic Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Robotics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.20708