# Removing outliers using a ConditionalRemoval filter

This document demonstrates how to use the ConditionalRemoval filter to remove points from a PointCloud that do not satisfy a specific or multiple conditions.

# The code

First, create a file, let’s say, conditional_removal.cpp in you favorite editor, and place the following inside it:

  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 #include #include #include int main (int argc, char** argv) { pcl::PointCloud::Ptr cloud (new pcl::PointCloud); pcl::PointCloud::Ptr cloud_filtered (new pcl::PointCloud); // Fill in the cloud data cloud->width = 5; cloud->height = 1; cloud->points.resize (cloud->width * cloud->height); for (size_t i = 0; i < cloud->points.size (); ++i) { cloud->points[i].x = 1024 * rand () / (RAND_MAX + 1.0f); cloud->points[i].y = 1024 * rand () / (RAND_MAX + 1.0f); cloud->points[i].z = 1024 * rand () / (RAND_MAX + 1.0f); } std::cerr << "Cloud before filtering: " << std::endl; for (size_t i = 0; i < cloud->points.size (); ++i) std::cerr << " " << cloud->points[i].x << " " << cloud->points[i].y << " " << cloud->points[i].z << std::endl; // build the condition pcl::ConditionAnd::Ptr range_cond (new pcl::ConditionAnd ()); range_cond->addComparison (pcl::FieldComparison::ConstPtr (new pcl::FieldComparison ("z", pcl::ComparisonOps::GT, 0.0))); range_cond->addComparison (pcl::FieldComparison::ConstPtr (new pcl::FieldComparison ("z", pcl::ComparisonOps::LT, 0.8))); // build the filter pcl::ConditionalRemoval condrem (range_cond); condrem.setInputCloud (cloud); condrem.setKeepOrganized(true); // apply filter condrem.filter (*cloud_filtered); // display pointcloud after filtering std::cerr << "Cloud after filtering: " << std::endl; for (size_t i = 0; i < cloud_filtered->points.size (); ++i) std::cerr << " " << cloud_filtered->points[i].x << " " << cloud_filtered->points[i].y << " " << cloud_filtered->points[i].z << std::endl; return (0); } 

# The explanation

Now, let’s break down the code piece by piece.

In the following Lines, we define the PointCloud structures, fill in the input cloud, and display it’s content to screen.

  pcl::PointCloud<pcl::PointXYZ>::Ptr cloud (new pcl::PointCloud<pcl::PointXYZ>);
pcl::PointCloud<pcl::PointXYZ>::Ptr cloud_filtered (new pcl::PointCloud<pcl::PointXYZ>);

// Fill in the cloud data
cloud->width  = 5;
cloud->height = 1;
cloud->points.resize (cloud->width * cloud->height);

for (size_t i = 0; i < cloud->points.size (); ++i)
{
cloud->points[i].x = 1024 * rand () / (RAND_MAX + 1.0f);
cloud->points[i].y = 1024 * rand () / (RAND_MAX + 1.0f);
cloud->points[i].z = 1024 * rand () / (RAND_MAX + 1.0f);
}

std::cerr << "Cloud before filtering: " << std::endl;
for (size_t i = 0; i < cloud->points.size (); ++i)
std::cerr << "    " << cloud->points[i].x << " "
<< cloud->points[i].y << " "
<< cloud->points[i].z << std::endl;


Then, we create the condition which a given point must satisfy so that it remains in our PointCloud. To do this we must add two comparisons to the condition, greater than 0.0, and less than 0.8. This condition is then used to build the filter.

  // build the condition
pcl::ConditionAnd<pcl::PointXYZ>::Ptr range_cond (new
pcl::ConditionAnd<pcl::PointXYZ> ());
pcl::FieldComparison<pcl::PointXYZ> ("z", pcl::ComparisonOps::GT, 0.0)));
pcl::FieldComparison<pcl::PointXYZ> ("z", pcl::ComparisonOps::LT, 0.8)));

// build the filter
pcl::ConditionalRemoval<pcl::PointXYZ> condrem (range_cond);
condrem.setInputCloud (cloud);
condrem.setKeepOrganized(true);


This last bit of code just applies the filter to our original PointCloud, and removes all of the points that do not satisfy the conditions we specified. Then it outputs all of the points remaining in the PointCloud.

  // apply filter
condrem.filter (*cloud_filtered);

// display pointcloud after filtering
std::cerr << "Cloud after filtering: " << std::endl;
for (size_t i = 0; i < cloud_filtered->points.size (); ++i)
std::cerr << "    " << cloud_filtered->points[i].x << " "
<< cloud_filtered->points[i].y << " "


# Compiling and running the program

  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8 FATAL_ERROR) project(conditional_removal) find_package(PCL 1.2 REQUIRED) include_directories(${PCL_INCLUDE_DIRS}) link_directories(${PCL_LIBRARY_DIRS}) add_definitions(${PCL_DEFINITIONS}) add_executable (conditional_removal conditional_removal.cpp) target_link_libraries (conditional_removal${PCL_LIBRARIES}) 

After you have made the executable, you can run it. Simply do:

\$ ./conditioinal_removal


You will see something similar to:

Cloud before filtering:
0.352222 -0.151883 -0.106395
-0.397406 -0.473106 0.292602
-0.731898 0.667105 0.441304
-0.734766 0.854581 -0.0361733
-0.4607 -0.277468 -0.916762
Cloud after filtering:
-0.397406 -0.473106 0.292602
-0.731898 0.667105 0.441304