Shape from active shadow motion

Wang, Lei; Clark, James J.;

AA(Harvard Univ.) Publication: Proc. SPIE Vol. 2056, p. 2-13, Intelligent Robots and Computer Vision XII: Active Vision and 3D Methods, David P. Casasent; Ed.

Publication Date: 8/1993


Abstract:

We propose an active vision technique for recovering object shape and absolute position information. The algorithm relies on the controlled motion of a point light source and reasonable assumptions on the general shape of the objects. The sequence of shadow images created by the illuminant is used to produce the surface information. In this approach the light source is not at infinity and light rays are not parallel. For the case of objects with `sharp' edges, our approach requires only solving a linear system of equations. We provide a sensitivity analysis as a basis for robust estimation of surface shape and depth values. Simulations and experiments are performed to demonstrate the efficacy of the algorithm.

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