[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-86284-en":3,"doc-seo-86284-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":25,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":26,"faqs":27,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},86284,1099514068365,"Aurelia","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/10000253d8d9f28188e?_k=1776742907772140068",8,"Research & Report","IBPA: Real-time Free-form Manifold Mesh Reconstruction via Incremental Ball Pivoting with Integrated Hole Detection","Remotely operated and autonomous underwater vehicles often collect bathymetric data with incomplete coverage, yet the high cost of underwater missions makes real-time coverage assessment critical for operational decisions. Traditional incremental reconstruction and height-field models such as DTMs/DSMs cannot express overhangs or vertical structures. IBPA adapts the Ball Pivoting Algorithm into an incremental, real-time, free-form method that builds an orientable manifold mesh from streaming point clouds and adds hole detection to highlight missing regions.","arXiv :2607 . 11627v1 [ cs .GR] 13 Jul 2026  \nIBPA: Real-time Free-form Manifold Mesh Reconstruction via Incremental Ball Pivoting with Integrated Hole Detection  \nMauhing Yipa , Mohit Singha , Kostas Alexisa , Christian Schellewaldb ,  \nAnnette Stahla  \na Department of Engineering Cybernetics, NTNU, O. S. Bragstads Plass 2D, Trondheim, 7034, Norway  \nb SINTEF Ocean, Brattørkaia 17c, Trondheim, 7010, Norway  \nAbstract  \nBoth Remotely Operated underwater Vehicles (ROVs) and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) are frequently deployed to acquire geometric bathymetric data. However, it is often discovered post-survey that the acquired data coverage is incomplete. Given the high operational cost associated with underwater deployments, it is essential to incrementally visualize surface coverage in real-time to support informed decision-making by both the operators of ROVs and the AUVs during data collection. In addition, traditional incremental surface reconstruction methods, such as Digital Terrain Models (DTMs), are inherently limited in expressiveness: they represent surfaces as height fields, allows only one elevation value per (x, y) coordinate and thus cannot capture overhangs or vertical structures.  \nTo overcome these limitations, we adapt the original Ball Pivoting Algorithm (BPA) into an incremental, real-time, and free-form surface reconstruction method, referred to as Incremental BPA (IBPA) . Our method incrementally constructs an orientable, manifold mesh from streaming point cloud data without imposing assumptions regarding point cloud overlap or spatial distribution. Furthermore, we introduce a hole detection mechanism that identifies and highlights incomplete mesh regions. Compared to existing approaches, our method supports more complex surface topologies without prior structural assumptions.  \nThe source code of our reference implementation is available: [https:](https:)//[github. com/Mauhing/Incremental-BPA](github. com/Mauhing/Incremental-BPA)  \nPreprint July 14, 2026  \nKeywords: Orientable manifold triangle mesh, Hole detection, Incremental surface reconstruction, Underwater robotics, Multibeam sonar  \n1. Introduction  \n3D point clouds of underwater environments are commonly acquired via active acoustic sensors, such as a Multibeam Echosounder (MBES) combined with an acoustic positioning system, or via passive optical methods, such as visual SLAM or odometry using stereo or monocular cameras, where visibility allows.  \nMapping the seabed in high detail is challenging due to the surface’s highly irregular and complex topology. This makes it difficult for both human operators and autonomous underwater robots to assess coverage or completeness in real-time.  \nUsually, a digital terrain model (DTM) or a digital surface model (DSM) is used to represent the seabed, and it can consist of a regular or irregular 2D grid with elevation data. The limitation of this geometric representation is that it cannot represent overhanging structures and intricate formations, which are quite prevalent on seabeds, especially when a detailed map is desired. For example, in our experimental dataset of the sunken aircraft (see Fig. 16), occluded regions, such as the area beneath the aircraft’s wings, were missing. If a DTM / DSM-based method was used, identifying missing data beneath the wing would be difficult, as a DTM represents the surface as a 2D function of elevation, z = f(x, y) . Methods that operate primarily in the 2D domain for detecting missing data therefore fail to exploit available 3D (spatial) information, particularly in scenarios involving overhangs or other complex topologies.  \nTo address the challenges above, we propose a real-time incremental surface mesh reconstruction that maintains properties such as orientability, being a manifold, and allowing free-form structures. Simultaneously, we can identify missing data in a meaningful manner without resorting to any 3D-to- 2D projection. By “meaningful manner”, we mean","cbCaii4no0mAbbAS","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaii4no0mAbbAS","pdf",18327019,2,1,41,"English","en",105,"# Introduction\n## Problem: incomplete underwater coverage\n## Limitations of DTM/DSM representations\n## Proposed approach and objectives\n## Contributions and method overview","[{\"question\":\"Why is real-time incremental coverage visualization important for underwater vehicles?\",\"answer\":\"Underwater surveys are costly, and post-survey analysis often reveals incomplete coverage. Real-time visualization helps operators and AUVs make informed decisions during data collection.\"},{\"question\":\"What limitation of DTM/DSM models motivates a new reconstruction method?\",\"answer\":\"DTMs/DSMs represent the seabed as a height field z=f(x,y), so they cannot capture overhangs or vertical structures common in complex seabed topology.\"},{\"question\":\"How does IBPA address overhangs and complex surface topology?\",\"answer\":\"IBPA adapts the Ball Pivoting Algorithm into an incremental, real-time free-form reconstruction that constructs an orientable, manifold mesh without assuming specific point cloud overlap or spatial distribution.\"}]",1784210047,103,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":25,"language":24,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":86,"head_meta":88,"extra_data":90,"updated_unix":28},"ibpa-real-time-free-form-manifold-mesh-reconstruction-via-incremental-ball-pivoting-with-integrated-hole-detection","",{"@graph":36,"@context":85},[37,53,68],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,47,50],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",{"item":48,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":49},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/ibpa-real-time-free-form-manifold-mesh-reconstruction-via-incremental-ball-pivoting-with-integrated-hole-detection/86284/",4,{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":24,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":41,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-07-27","2026-07-16",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71,77,81],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"Why is real-time incremental coverage visualization important for underwater vehicles?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"Underwater surveys are costly, and post-survey analysis often reveals incomplete coverage. Real-time visualization helps operators and AUVs make informed decisions during data collection.","Answer",{"name":78,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":79},"What limitation of DTM/DSM models motivates a new reconstruction method?",{"text":80,"@type":76},"DTMs/DSMs represent the seabed as a height field z=f(x,y), so they cannot capture overhangs or vertical structures common in complex seabed topology.",{"name":82,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":83},"How does IBPA address overhangs and complex surface topology?",{"text":84,"@type":76},"IBPA adapts the Ball Pivoting Algorithm into an incremental, real-time free-form reconstruction that constructs an orientable, manifold mesh without assuming specific point cloud overlap or spatial distribution.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":51,"og:type":87,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":58,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":89,"canonical":51},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":25},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":92},[93,97,101,105,110,115,120,123,128,131,135],{"id":21,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":94,"show_sort_weight":95,"slug":96},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":112,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":116,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":117,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":119},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":121,"slug":122},30,"research-report",{"id":124,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":125,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":127},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":126,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":130},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":132,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":133,"show_sort_weight":132,"slug":134},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":136,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":137,"show_sort_weight":106,"slug":138},19,"General","general"]