Automated reconstruction of fragmented objects using their 3D representation - application to important archaeological finds

Abstract

In this work a new methodology is introduced for the automated reassembling/reconstruction of fragmented objects using their 3D digital representation. The whole process starts by 3D scanning of the available fragments. These are subsequently properly processed and the obtained fragmentspsila 3D images are automatically tested for possible matching, by means of five novel introduced criteria. The first criterion considers the volume of the gap between two properly placed fragments. Two more criteria consider the fragmentspsila overlapping in each possible matching position. Finally, criteria 4, 5 employ principles from calculus of variations to obtain bounds for the area of the contact surfaces and the length of contact curves. The method has been applied with great success both in the reconstruction of an object artificially broken by the authors and, most important, in the virtual reassembling of parts of wall-paintings made before 1100 BC., excavated highly fragmented in Mycenae and Tiryntha, Greece.