ELLIPTIC FIT OF OBJECTS IN 2 AND 3 DIMENSIONS BY MOMENT OF INERTIA OPTIMIZATION

This paper deals with the problem of optimal elliptic fit to simply connected objects in two and three dimensions. The technique presented here is based on the optimization of moment of inertia of the object. In two dimensions, the object is assumed to be a thin lamina of uniform density. Some basic properties of moment of inertia are used to find simple, easily computable, and closed form expressions for the parameters of the fitting ellipse. Experimental results are presented and compared with other existing fitting methods. Extension of the work in three dimensions and in gray-tone objects is also proposed.