A Synthetic Data Generation Pipeline for Point-Cloud-Based Rebar Segmentation
Tao Sun, Yingtong Luo, Yi Shao
ISARC 2025
📄 Paper 🖼️ Poster
Abstract
Automated rebar cage assembly and quality inspection require reliable rebar recognition. Although rebar segmentation from point clouds has been extensively studied, its generalizability remains limited. One key challenge is the scarcity of real data for training the segmentation models. To address this issue, we propose, for the first time, a pipeline for generating synthetic data for the rebar point cloud instance segmentation task. Using this pipeline, we applied the state-of-the-art Oneformer3D on rebar mesh instance segmentation. The model trained on our synthetic dataset achieved a 95.4 mAP in real-world experiments, showing strong synthetic-to-real transfer capability. By eliminating the need for manual data collection and annotation, the proposed method facilitates advancements in automated rebar cage assembly and dimensional quality inspection technologies.
Method Overview
Pipeline Diagram
About
AIS Construction Lab

AIS Construction Lab at McGill University explores intelligent solutions for the future of construction. Our research spans three core areas: robotic and AI-driven automation in construction, AI-assisted design with large language models, and the development of ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) alongside structural topology optimization. Through interdisciplinary approaches, we aim to enhance both the efficiency and intelligence of construction systems.

Tao Sun
Tao Sun is a second-year PhD student at McGill University and a visiting researcher at Princeton University, co-advised by Yi Shao and Szymon Rusinkiewicz. His research aims to build real-world robotic systems capable of generalized manipulation, especially for assembly tasks in construction industry, using end-to-end learning that leverages data from both real-world and simulation.
Yingtong Luo
Yingtong Luo is a final-year undergraduate student in Mechanical Engineering at McGill University. His research interests focus on robotic perception, deep learning, and control theory, aiming to advance industrial automation through intelligent robotic solutions.
Yi Shao
Professor Yi Shao is the Principal Investigator of the AIS Lab at McGill University. His research focuses on improving automation and sustainability in the construction industry through autonomous construction technologies and circular utilization. His current work spans intelligent construction tools and resilient structural systems, leveraging high-performance materials, advanced design methods, and robotic construction solutions.
Rebar Grasp Image
DL_rebar_detection
motion_planning
Acknowledgement
We would like to thank John Bartczak (McGill University) for his tremendous engineering support.