Data about a physical object in a real-world environment is automatically collected and labeled. A mechanical device is used to maneuver the object into different poses within a three-dimensional workspace in the real-world environment. While the object is in each different pose an image of the object is input from one or more sensors and data specifying the pose is input from the mechanical device. The image of the object input from each of the sensors for each different pose is labeled with the data specifying the pose and with information identifying the object. A database for the object that includes these labeled images can be generated. The labeled images can also be used to train a detector and classifier to detect and recognize the object when it is in an environment that is similar to the real-world environment.