  The emerging topic of cross-source point cloud (CSPC) registration has
attracted increasing attention with the fast development background of 3D
sensor technologies. Different from the conventional same-source point clouds
that focus on data from same kind of 3D sensor (e.g., Kinect), CSPCs come from
different kinds of 3D sensors (e.g., Kinect and { LiDAR}). CSPC registration
generalizes the requirement of data acquisition from same-source to different
sources, which leads to generalized applications and combines the advantages of
multiple sensors. In this paper, we provide a systematic review on CSPC
registration. We first present the characteristics of CSPC, and then summarize
the key challenges in this research area, followed by the corresponding
research progress consisting of the most recent and representative developments
on this topic. Finally, we discuss the important research directions in this
vibrant area and explain the role in several application fields.
