# DPPE: Dense Pose Estimation in a Plenoxels Environment using Gradient Approximation

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.10773 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.10773/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 24 of its 34 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 16 Mar 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 24 of 24)

- [3D Gaussian Splatting for Real-Time Radiance Field Rendering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.04079/) (2023)
- [Instant Neural Graphics Primitives with a Multiresolution Hash Encoding](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2201.05989/) (2022)
- [Fourier Features Let Networks Learn High Frequency Functions in Low Dimensional Domains](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.10739/) (2020)
- [Mip-NeRF 360: Unbounded Anti-Aliased Neural Radiance Fields](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.12077/) (2021)
- [Plenoxels: Radiance Fields without Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.05131/) (2021)
- [FlowNet: Learning Optical Flow with Convolutional Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1504.06852/) (2015)
- [PlenOctrees for Real-time Rendering of Neural Radiance Fields](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.14024/) (2021)
- [ORB-SLAM3: An Accurate Open-Source Library for Visual, Visual-Inertial and Multi-Map SLAM](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2007.11898/) (2020)
- [Neural Scene Flow Fields for Space-Time View Synthesis of Dynamic Scenes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.13084/) (2020)
- [Block-NeRF: Scalable Large Scene Neural View Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.05263/) (2022)
- [BARF: Bundle-Adjusting Neural Radiance Fields](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.06405/) (2021)
- [NICE-SLAM: Neural Implicit Scalable Encoding for SLAM](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.12130/) (2021)
- [iMAP: Implicit Mapping and Positioning in Real-Time](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.12352/) (2021)
- [Past, Present, and Future of Simultaneous Localization And Mapping: Towards the Robust-Perception Age](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1606.05830/) (2016)
- [INeRF: Inverting Neural Radiance Fields for Pose Estimation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.05877/) (2020)
- [NeRF-SLAM: Real-Time Dense Monocular SLAM with Neural Radiance Fields](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.13641/) (2022)
- [GDRNPP: A Geometry-guided and Fully Learning-based Object Pose Estimator](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.12145/) (2021)
- [A micro Lie theory for state estimation in robotics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1812.01537/) (2018)
- [Category Level Object Pose Estimation via Neural Analysis-by-Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2008.08145/) (2020)
- [Orbeez-SLAM: A Real-time Monocular Visual SLAM with ORB Features and NeRF-realized Mapping](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.13274/) (2022)
- [Loc-NeRF: Monte Carlo Localization using Neural Radiance Fields](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.09050/) (2022)
- [Parallel Inversion of Neural Radiance Fields for Robust Pose Estimation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.10108/) (2022)
- [RGB-D Mapping and Tracking in a Plenoxel Radiance Field](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.03404/) (2023)
- [Evaluation of Lidar-based 3D SLAM algorithms in SubT environment](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.13613/) (2023)

## Abstract (arXiv)

We present DPPE, a dense pose estimation algorithm that functions over a Plenoxels environment. Recent advances in neural radiance field techniques have shown that it is a powerful tool for environment representation. More recent neural rendering algorithms have significantly improved both training duration and rendering speed. Plenoxels introduced a fully-differentiable radiance field technique that uses Plenoptic volume elements contained in voxels for rendering, offering reduced training times and better rendering accuracy, while also eliminating the neural net component. In this work, we introduce a 6-DoF monocular RGB-only pose estimation procedure for Plenoxels, which seeks to recover the ground truth camera pose after a perturbation. We employ a variation on classical template matching techniques, using stochastic gradient descent to optimize the pose by minimizing errors in re-rendering. In particular, we examine an approach that takes advantage of the rapid rendering speed of Plenoxels to numerically approximate part of the pose gradient, using a central differencing technique. We show that such methods are effective in pose estimation. Finally, we perform ablations over key components of the problem space, with a particular focus on image subsampling and Plenoxel grid resolution. Project website: https://sites.google.com/view/dppe