Fusion Of Range And Intensity Edge Maps

In this paper, a new analytic method for the fusion of range, r = r(x,y), and intensity, i = i(x,y), edge maps is presented. This method focuses on the integration of registered information in order to increase one's confidence about the presence/absence of edges in a depicted scene. The algorithm is based on the in-teraction between the following two constraints: the principle of existence, which tends to maximize the value of the output edge map at a given location if one input edge map features an edge, and the principle of confirmability, which adjusts this value according to the edge content in the other input edge map at the same location, by maximizing the similarity between them. These two principles are combined by maximizing a linear positive combinations of those two constraints related by a fusion function, a = a(x, y). The latter maximization is achieved us-ing the Euler-Language Calculus of Variations equations. This method was tested with synthetic and real data. The resulting edge maps combining both range and intensity data satisfies both principles of existence and confirmability. It has been applied also to other type of registered real data (multispectral) with the same integration success.