Algebraic-distance minimization of lines and ellipses for traffic sign shape localization

Abstract

In traffic sign recognition systems, one of the normal approaches is the identification of the shape of the sign prior to the recognition itself. Normally, the recognition process needs an accurate localization of the sign for a good performance. If we are dealing with triangular, rectangular and circular signs, this means the accurate localization of the vertices of the triangle and the rectangle, or the parameters of the ellipse. In this paper we have developed a system which searches the above mentioned parameters from the signature of the blob using techniques of algebraic-distance minimization. Comparisons with previous works show good improvements in the localization of the shape, especially in the presence of slight occlusions. This work is part of a traffic sign recognition system, and in this paper we focus on the shape localization step. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007.