Rotational symmetries of 3D point clouds using the covariance matrix and higher-order tensors

Abstract

We prove that, under generic conditions, the covariance matrix of a 3D point cloud with rotational symmetry has a simple eigenvalue, whose associated eigenvector provides the direction of the axis of rotation, and a double eigenvalue. The direction of the axis of rotation can also be computed from higher order tensors related to the point cloud, which is useful in pathological cases. This leads to a very simple algorithm for detecting rotational symmetry and computing the axis of rotation.