Automatic segmentation and matching of planar contours for visual servoing

Abstract

In this paper we present a complete system for segmenting, matching and tracking planar contours for use in visual servoing. Our system can be used with arbitrary contours of any shape and without any prior knowledge of their models. The system is first shown the target view. A selected contour is automatically extracted and its image shape is stored. The robot and object are then moved and the system automatically identifies the target. The matching step is done together with the estimation of the homography matrix between the two views of the contour. Then, a 2 1/2 D visual servoing technique is used to reposition the end-effector of a robot at the target position relative to the planar contour. The system has been successfully tested on several contours with very complex shapes such as leaves, keys and the coastal outlines of islands.