MATCHING GENERAL POLYGONAL ARCS

In this paper we present an algorithm for matching two polygonal arcs. We first show how to match two arcs of the same length by decomposition into pairs of equal length line segments. The distance measure used is the sum of the squared distances between corresponding points on the two arcs. We find the best match by calculating analytically the relative position and orientation of the arcs that minimize the distance measure. After analyzing the case of arcs having the same length, we show how to use this result in the algorithm for arc matching, i.e., finding the piece of a long arc that best matches with a short arc. We illustrate its application with an example and suggest how to implement it efficiently. We also discuss simplifications of the algorithm in the case of digital images. © 1991.