High-Throughput and Accurate 3D Scanning of Cattle Using Time-of-Flight Sensors and Deep Learning

We introduce a high-throughput 3D scanning system designed to accurately measure cattle phenotypes. This scanner employs an array of depth sensors, i.e., time-of-flight (ToF) sensors, each controlled by dedicated embedded devices. The sensors generate high-fidelity 3D point clouds, which are automatically stitched using a point could segmentation approach through deep learning. The deep learner combines raw RGB and depth data to identify correspondences between the multiple 3D point clouds, thus creating a single and accurate mesh that reconstructs the cattle geometry on the fly. In order to evaluate the performance of our system, we implemented a two-fold validation process. Initially, we quantitatively tested the scanner for its ability to determine accurate volume and surface area measurements in a controlled environment featuring known objects. Next, we explored the impact and need for multi-device synchronization when scanning moving targets (cattle). Finally, we performed qualitative and quantitative measurements on cattle. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed system is capable of producing high-quality meshes of untamed cattle with accurate volume and surface area measurements for livestock studies.