planeModel

R2026b

Object for storing parametric plane model

Description

The planeModel object stores the parameters of a parametric plane model. After you create a planeModel object, you can extract points on the plane using the object functions. Plane models are used to store the output of the pcfitplane function, which fits a plane over a point cloud.

Creation

There are two ways to create a planeModel object.

• Create a plane model by specifying the plane parameters in the planeModel object.

• Fit a plane model over a point cloud using the pcfitplane function.

Description

model = planeModel(parameters) constructs a parametric plane model from the 1-by-4 Parameters input vector that describes a plane.

Input Arguments

parameters — Plane parameters

1-by-4 scalar vector

Plane parameters, specified as a 1-by-4 vector. This input specifies the Parameters property. The four parameters [a,b,c,d] describe the equation for a plane:

$$ax+by+cz+d=0$$

Where, [a,b,c,d] are defined as:

• [a,b,c] specifies the normal vector of the plane and corresponds to the Normal property.

• d specifies the distance of the plane from the origin along the normal direction.

Properties

These properties are read-only.

Parameters — Plane model parameters

1-by-4 vector

Plane model parameters, stored as a 1-by-4 vector. These parameters are specified by the parameters input argument.

Normal — Normal vector of the plane

1-by-3 vector

Normal vector of the plane, stored as a 1-by-3 vector. The [a,b,c] vector specifies the unnormalized normal vector of the plane.

Object Functions

plot	Plot parametric model
normalRotation	Compute transform for rotation of normal to plane
transform	Transform geometric models between coordinate frames

Examples

Detect Multiple Planes from Point Cloud

Load the point cloud.

load("object3d.mat")

Display the point cloud and label the figure.

figure
pcshow(ptCloud)
xlabel("X(m)")
ylabel("Y(m)")
zlabel("Z(m)")
title("Original Point Cloud")

Set the maximum point-to-plane distance (2cm) for plane fitting.

maxDistance = 0.02;

Set the normal vector of the plane.

referenceVector = [0,0,1];

Set the maximum angular distance to 5 degrees.

maxAngularDistance = 5;

Detect the first plane, the table, and extract it from the point cloud.

[model1,inlierIndices,outlierIndices] = pcfitplane(ptCloud,...
            maxDistance,referenceVector,maxAngularDistance);
plane1 = select(ptCloud,inlierIndices);
remainPtCloud = select(ptCloud,outlierIndices);

Set the region of interest to constrain the search for the second plane, left wall.

roi = [-inf,inf;0.4,inf;-inf,inf];
sampleIndices = findPointsInROI(remainPtCloud,roi);

Detect the left wall and extract it from the remaining point cloud.

[model2,inlierIndices,outlierIndices] = pcfitplane(remainPtCloud,...
            maxDistance,SampleIndices=sampleIndices);
plane2 = select(remainPtCloud,inlierIndices);
remainPtCloud = select(remainPtCloud,outlierIndices);

Plot the two planes and the remaining points.

figure
pcshow(plane1)
title("First Plane")

figure
pcshow(plane2)
title("Second Plane")

figure
pcshow(remainPtCloud)
title("Remaining Point Cloud")

Version History

Introduced in R2015b

R2026b: Moved to Point Cloud Toolbox from Computer Vision Toolbox

Starting in R2026b, planeModel is available in Point Cloud Toolbox™. In releases R2026a and before, planeModel is available in Computer Vision Toolbox™.

R2026b: New transform object function

You can use the new transform object function to transform a planeModel between coordinate frames.