Abstract

We develop a systematic approach to the discovery of parallel iterative schemes for solving the shape-from-shading problem on a grid. A standard procedure for finding such schemes is outlined, and subsequently used to derive several new ones. The shape-from-shading problem is known to be mathematically equivalent to a nonlinear first-order partial differential equation in surface elevation. To avoid the problems inherent in methods used to solve such equations, we follow previous work in reformulating the problem as one of finding a surface orientation field that minimizes the integral of the brightness error. The calculus of variations is then employed to derive the appropriate Euler equations on which iterative schemes can be based. The problem of minimizing the integral of the brightness error term is ill posed, since it has an infinite number of solutions in terms of surface orientation fields. A previous method used a regularization technique to overcome this difficulty. An extra term was added to the integral to obtain an approximation to a solution that was as smooth as possible. We point out here that surface orientation has to obey an integrability constraint if it is to correspond to an underlying smooth surface. Regularization methods do not guarantee that the surface orientation recovered satisfies this constraint. see also "Shape from Shading" MIT Press.

Citations