An Intelligent Computer Assistance System for Artifact Restoration Based on Genetic Algorithms with Plane Image Features

Abstract

Restoration work of archaeological artifacts broken into pieces is similar to putting together a jigsaw puzzle. The purpose of this study is to construct an intelligent computer assistance system to conveniently restore archaeological discoveries from some fragments. AReal-Coded Genetic Algorithm (RCGA) was applicable for solving the positioning problem of a three-dimensional (3D) restoration. The fitness function value for RCGA was calculated from image similarity between the target and correct patterns in plane images at multiple camera angles. Image features of a 3D object were obtained by the ORB (Oriented FAST and Rotated BRIEF), BRISK (Binary Robust Invariant Scalable Keypoints), and Accelerated KAZE (AKAZE) techniques; they were considered as a part of the fitness function value. Simulation study revealed that the RCGA approach was capable of automatically and efficiently adjusting the positions of 3D fragments, especially in the AKAZE technique. A user interface with the functions of design drawing was also created to assist in repair work. The interactive assistance interface for 3D restoration based on RCGA and followed by the hill-climbing algorithm would be applied to practical applications for digital archives of artifacts.