Robust segmentation of visual data using ranked unbiased scale estimate

A method of data segmentation, based upon robust least K-th order statistical model fitting (LKS), is proposed and applied to image motion and range data segmentation. The estimation method differs from other approaches using versions of LKS in a number of important ways. Firstly, the value of K is not determined by a complex optimization routine. Secondly, having chosen a fit, the estimation of scale of the noise is not based upon the K-th order statistic of the residuals. Other aspects of the full segmentation scheme include the use of segment contiguity to: (a) reduce the number of random sample fits used in the LKS stage, and (b) to "fill-in" holes caused by isolated miss-classified data.