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      1 .. Ceres Solver documentation master file, created by
      2    sphinx-quickstart on Sat Jan 19 00:07:33 2013.
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      5 
      6 ============
      7 Ceres Solver
      8 ============
      9 
     10 .. toctree::
     11    :maxdepth: 3
     12    :hidden:
     13 
     14    features
     15    building
     16    tutorial
     17    modeling
     18    solving
     19    faqs
     20    contributing
     21    version_history
     22    history
     23    bibliography
     24    license
     25 
     26 Ceres Solver is an open source C++ library for modeling and solving
     27 large complicated `nonlinear least squares`_ problems. It is a feature
     28 rich, mature and performant library which has been used in production
     29 since 2010. At Google, Ceres Solver is used to:
     30 
     31 * Estimate the pose of `Street View`_ cars, aircrafts, and satellites.
     32 * Build 3D models for `PhotoTours`_.
     33 * Estimate satellite image sensor characteristics.
     34 * Stitch `panoramas`_ or apply `Lens Blur`_ on Android.
     35 * Solve `bundle adjustment`_ and SLAM problems in `Project Tango`_.
     36 
     37 Outside Google, Ceres is used for solving problems in computer vision,
     38 computer graphics, astronomy and physics. e.g., `Willow Garage`_ uses
     39 it to solve SLAM problems and `Blender`_ uses it for for planar
     40 tracking and bundle adjustment.
     41 
     42 .. _nonlinear least squares: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-linear_least_squares
     43 .. _fitting curves: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonlinear_regression
     44 .. _bundle adjustment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structure_from_motion
     45 .. _Street View: http://youtu.be/z00ORu4bU-A
     46 .. _PhotoTours: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2012/04/visit-global-landmarks-with-photo-tours.html
     47 .. _panoramas: http://www.google.com/maps/about/contribute/photosphere/
     48 .. _Project Tango: https://www.google.com/atap/projecttango/
     49 .. _Blender: http://mango.blender.org/development/planar-tracking-preview/
     50 .. _Willow Garage: https://www.willowgarage.com/blog/2013/08/09/enabling-robots-see-better-through-improved-camera-calibration
     51 .. _Lens Blur: http://googleresearch.blogspot.com/2014/04/lens-blur-in-new-google-camera-app.html
     52 
     53 Getting started
     54 ---------------
     55 
     56 * Download the `latest stable release
     57   <http://ceres-solver.org/ceres-solver-1.9.0.tar.gz>`_ or clone the
     58   Git repository for the latest development version.
     59 
     60   .. code-block:: bash
     61 
     62        git clone https://ceres-solver.googlesource.com/ceres-solver
     63 
     64 * Read the :ref:`chapter-tutorial`, browse the chapters on the
     65   :ref:`chapter-modeling` API and the :ref:`chapter-solving` API.
     66 * Join the `mailing list
     67   <https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/ceres-solver>`_
     68   and ask questions.
     69 * File bugs, feature requests in the `issue tracker
     70   <https://code.google.com/p/ceres-solver/issues/list>`_.
     71 
     72 
     73 Cite Us
     74 -------
     75 If you use Ceres Solver for a publication, please cite it as::
     76 
     77     @misc{ceres-solver,
     78       author = "Sameer Agarwal and Keir Mierle and Others",
     79       title = "Ceres Solver",
     80       howpublished = "\url{http://ceres-solver.org}",
     81     }
     82