On the decomposition of binary shapes into meaningful parts

Abstract A novel decomposition scheme for binary shapes is proposed, based on a newly developed notion of Maximal Approximately Convex Subpart (MACS). MACSs are first derived from concepts of integral geometry and it is argued that MACSs are the simplest possible constituents of a decomposition. An algorithm is developed that utilizes the notion of MACSs to achieve a decomposition into possibly overlapping parts. The developed algorithm is based on concepts of mathematical morphology, which have been extended by an elongation and a fattening operation. The validity of the chosen approach is shown by applying it to several examples, synthetic as well as real objects, thus corroborating as well the validity of the initial concept of MACSs.

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