Cooler detection via topographic analysis of vector-potential

This paper describes how corner detection can be realised using a new featu re representation based on a magnetostatic analogy. The idea is to compute a vector-potential by appealing to an analogy in which the Canny edge-map i s regarded as an elementary current density residing on the image plane. In this paper, we demonstrate that corners are located at the saddle-points o f the magnitude of the vector-potential. These points correspond to the int ersections of saddle-ridge and saddle-valley structures, i.e. to junctions of the edge and symmetry lines. We describe a template-based method for loc ating the saddle-points. This involves performing a non-minimum suppression test in the direction of the vector-potential and a non-maximum suppressio n test in the orthogonal direction. Experimental results using both synthet ic and real images are given. We investigate the angle and scale sensitivit y of the new corner detector and compare it with a number of alternative co rner detectors. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.