Correction, stitching and blur estimation of micro-graphs obtained at high speed

Abstract

Micro-structures of surface are considered to be effective in identifying the damage mechanisms. The industry uses computer vision to auto detect misalignment of the components as it is a contactless tool. However, in scientific investigations micro structures obtained online at high-speed has to be analyzed. In this work the change detection of a specimen rotating at a high speed studied online using image processing techniques in micro graphs which provides a clear insight about the dimensional changes. The specimen under study is made from polymer composite which has contact with a steel wheel and rotates at a high speed. The blur as a measure of dimensional change of the polymer composite can be identified due to the change in focus. The micro-structure images were dark and span a very small region of the surface due to high speed image acquisition, short shutter time and magnification of the microscope. Thus, pre-processing procedures like image enhancement, stitching and registration are performed. Then 15 blur estimation methods are applied to the stitched images. The results of three methods present a good correlation with dimensional change provided by a stylus instrument. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.