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.