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This work was supported by the Madrid Government (Comunidad de Madrid-Spain) under the Multiannual Agreement 2023-2026 with Universidad Politecnica de Madrid in the Line A, Emerging Ph.D. researchers. Funding for the open access charge was provided by Universidad Politecnicade Madrid/Consorcio Madrono.

Analysis of institutional authors

Moratalla, Javier LasernaCorresponding AuthorSanchez, David AlvarezAuthor

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April 12, 2025
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CliReg: Clique-Based Robust Point Cloud Registration

Publicated to:Ieee Transactions On Robotics. 41 1898-1917 - 2025-01-01 41(), DOI: 10.1109/TRO.2025.3542954

Authors: Moratalla, Javier Laserna; Carrillo, Pablo San Segundo; Sanchez, David Alvarez

Affiliations

Univ Politecn Madrid, Ctr Automat & Robot CAR ETSIDI, UPMCSIC, Madrid 28012, Spain - Author

Abstract

We propose a branch-and-bound algorithm for robust rigid registration of two point clouds in the presence of a large number of outlier correspondences. For this purpose, we consider a maximum consensus formulation of the registration problem and reformulate it as a (large) maximal clique search in a correspondence graph, where a clique represents a complete rigid transformation. Specifically, we use a maximum clique algorithm to enumerate large maximal cliques and a fitness procedure that evaluates each clique by solving a least-squares optimization problem. The main advantages of our approach are 1) it is possible to exploit the cutting-edge optimization techniques employed by current exact maximum clique algorithms, such as partial maximum satisfiability-based bounds, branching by partitioning or the use of bitstrings, etc.; 2) the correspondence graphs are expected to be sparse in real problems (confirmed empirically in our tests), and, consequently, the maximum clique problem is expected to be easy; 3) it is possible to have a good control of suboptimality with a k-nearest neighbor analysis that determines the size of the correspondence graph as a function of $k$. The new algorithm is called CliReg and has been implemented in C++. To evaluate CliReg, we have carried out extensive tests both on synthetic and real public datasets. The results show that CliReg clearly dominates the state of the art (e.g., RANSAC, FGR, and TEASER++) in terms of robustness, with a running time comparable to TEASER++ and RANSAC. In addition, we have implemented a fast variant called CliRegMutual that performs similarly to the fastest heuristic FGR.

Keywords

AccuracyBound algorithmBranch-and-bound algorithmsC++ (programming language)Clique algorithmCost functionDiscrete optimizationFeature extractionGraph theoryIcMaximal cliqueMaximumMaximum cliqueMobile roboticMobile roboticsMobile robotsNearest neighbor searchObject recognitionPartitioning algorithmsPoint cloud 3-d registrationPoint cloud 3â d registrationPoint cloud compressionPoint cloud registrationPoint-cloudsRobotsScan matchinScan matchingScan-matchingSolid modelingSurveysThree-dimensional displaysTranslation

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Ieee Transactions On Robotics due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2025, it was in position 4/46, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Robotics. Notably, the journal is positioned above the 90th percentile.

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-07-09:

  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 2 (PlumX).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
  • Assignment of a Handle/URN as an identifier within the deposit in the Institutional Repository: https://oa.upm.es/89601/

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (LASERNA MORATALLA, JAVIER) and Last Author (ALVAREZ SANCHEZ, DAVID).

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been LASERNA MORATALLA, JAVIER.