Electrostatic field-based detection of corners of planar curves

Abstract

A corner is often defined as the junction point between two or more straight line edges, or a point on the object's boundary curve having a curvature extremum. Our definition of a corner is a point having an electrostatic field extremum along an equipotential contour. Based on this definition, a novel approach for corner detection using electrostatic field theory is proposed. The approach is motivated by the simple observation that the electrostatic field is known to be concentrated around pointed conductor edges. It has the flavour of the multiscale-based approach of corner detection. In this paper, the relevant background on electrostatic field theory is reviewed. Corner detection using the proposed approach is then presented. Experimental results are then given to demonstrate the potential and merits of the electrostatic field-based approach. >