# Advances in Global Solvers for 3D Vision

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.14662 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.14662/

## Key facts

- Cited by 13 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 139 of its 446 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 16 Feb 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 139)

- [Convex optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.01946/) (2021)
- [DUSt3R: Geometric 3D Vision Made Easy](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.14132/) (2023)
- [VGGT: Visual Geometry Grounded Transformer](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.11651/) (2025)
- [Depth Anything V2](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.09414/) (2024)
- [ORB-SLAM3: An Accurate Open-Source Library for Visual, Visual-Inertial and Multi-Map SLAM](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2007.11898/) (2020)
- [From Coarse to Fine: Robust Hierarchical Localization at Large Scale](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1812.03506/) (2018)
- [Differentiable Convex Optimization Layers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1910.12430/) (2019)
- [Depth Pro: Sharp Monocular Metric Depth in Less Than a Second](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.02073/) (2024)
- [UniDepth: Universal Monocular Metric Depth Estimation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.18913/) (2024)
- [TEASER: Fast and Certifiable Point Cloud Registration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2001.07715/) (2020)
- [A General and Adaptive Robust Loss Function](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1701.03077/) (2017)
- [Global Structure-from-Motion Revisited](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.20219/) (2024)
- [MAGSAC++, a fast, reliable and accurate robust estimator](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.05909/) (2019)
- [Go-ICP: A Globally Optimal Solution to 3D ICP Point-Set Registration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1605.03344/) (2016)
- [Neural-Guided RANSAC: Learning Where to Sample Model Hypotheses](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.04132/) (2019)
- [Graduated Non-Convexity for Robust Spatial Perception: From Non-Minimal Solvers to Global Outlier Rejection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1909.08605/) (2019)
- [SE-Sync: A Certifiably Correct Algorithm for Synchronization over the Special Euclidean Group](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1612.07386/) (2016)
- [Guaranteed Outlier Removal for Point Cloud Registration with Correspondences](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1711.10209/) (2017)
- [The non-convex Burer-Monteiro approach works on smooth semidefinite programs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1606.04970/) (2016)
- [Shonan Rotation Averaging: Global Optimality by Surfing SO(p)n](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2008.02737/) (2020)
- [Robust Camera Location Estimation by Convex Programming](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1412.0165/) (2014)
- [A Polynomial-time Solution for Robust Registration with Extreme Outlier Rates](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1903.08588/) (2019)
- [Near-optimal bounds for phase synchronization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1703.06605/) (2017)
- [OphNet: A Large-Scale Video Benchmark for Ophthalmic Surgical Workflow Understanding](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.07471/) (2024)
- [Star Tracking using an Event Camera](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1812.02895/) (2018)
- [An Overview of Robust Subspace Recovery](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1803.01013/) (2018)
- [A Quaternion-based Certifiably Optimal Solution to the Wahba Problem with Outliers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.12536/) (2019)
- [Baseline Desensitizing In Translation Averaging](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1901.00643/) (2019)
- [Outlier-Robust Estimation: Hardness, Minimally Tuned Algorithms, and Applications](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2007.15109/) (2020)
- [Self-supervised Geometric Perception](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.03114/) (2021)

## Built on by (most cited first, 13 of 13)

- [FocusTrack: One-Stage Focus-and-Suppress Framework for 3D Point Cloud Object Tracking](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.24133/) (2026)
- [RoboRouter: Training-Free Policy Routing for Robotic Manipulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.07892/) (2026)
- [Curvature-Adaptive Consistency Flow Matching: Autonomous Trajectory Optimization via Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.22394/) (2026)
- [DP-FedAdamW: An Efficient Optimizer for Differentially Private Federated Large Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.19945/) (2026)
- [CNMBI: Determining the Number of Clusters Using Center Pairwise Matching and Boundary Filtering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.26744/) (2026)
- [Deep Image Clustering Based on Curriculum Learning and Density Information](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.03306/) (2026)
- [IntentScore: Intent-Conditioned Action Evaluation for Computer-Use Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.05157/) (2026)
- [MMD-SLAM: Structure-Enhanced Multi-Meta Gaussian Distribution-Guided Visual SLAM](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.19874/) (2026)
- [Bridging Geographic Bias in Urban Streetscape Inference via Lifelong Learning with Visual-Semantic Pivoting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.15055/) (2026)
- [URDF Synthesis from RGB-D Sequences via Differentiable Joint Inference and Energy-Consistent Verification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.18861/) (2026)
- [SSMB: Self-Supervised Local Feature Detection under Motion Blur](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.27181/) (2026)
- [Streaming4D: Accelerate 4D World Models via Block-wise Video Generation and Incremental Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.00610/) (2026)
- [F2 SLAM: Turning Feed-Forward Geometry into Persistent Factors for SLAM](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.05207/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Global solvers have emerged as a powerful paradigm for 3D vision, offering certifiable solutions to nonconvex geometric optimization problems traditionally addressed by local or heuristic methods. This survey presents the first systematic review of global solvers in geometric vision, unifying the field through a comprehensive taxonomy of three core paradigms: Branch-and-Bound (BnB), Convex Relaxation (CR), and Graduated Non-Convexity (GNC). We present their theoretical foundations, algorithmic designs, and practical enhancements for robustness and scalability, examining how each addresses the fundamental nonconvexity of geometric estimation problems. Our analysis spans ten core vision tasks, from Wahba problem to bundle adjustment, revealing the optimality-robustness-scalability trade-offs that govern solver selection. We identify critical future directions: scaling algorithms while maintaining guarantees, integrating data-driven priors with certifiable optimization, establishing standardized benchmarks, and addressing societal implications for safety-critical deployment. By consolidating theoretical foundations, practical advances, and broader impacts, this survey provides a unified perspective and roadmap toward certifiable, trustworthy perception for real-world applications. A continuously-updated literature summary and companion code tutorials are available at https://github.com/ericzzj1989/Awesome-Global-Solvers-for-3D-Vision.