text: The problem of identifying the 3D pose of a known object from a given 2D image has important applications in Computer Vision. Our proposed method of registering a 3D model of a known object on a given 2D photo of the object has numerous advantages over existing methods. It does not require prior training, knowledge of the camera parameters, explicit point correspondences or matching features between the image and model. Unlike techniques that estimate a partial 3D pose (as in an overhead view of traffic or machine parts on a conveyor belt), our method estimates the complete 3D pose of the object. It works on a single static image from a given view under varying and unknown lighting conditions. For this purpose we derive a novel illumination-invariant distance measure between the 2D photo and projected 3D model, which is then minimised to find the best pose parameters. Results for vehicle pose detection in real photographs are presented.
  @cite_24: This paper reports novel algorithms for the efficient localization and recognition of traffic in traffic scenes. The algorithms eliminate the need for explicit symbolic feature extraction and matching. The pose and class of an object is determined by a form of voting and one-dimensional (1-D) correlations based directly on image gradient data, which can be computed "on the fly." The algorithms are therefore very well suited to real-time implementation. The algorithms make use of two a priori sources of knowledge about the scene and the objects expected: (1) the ground-plane constraint and (2) the fact that the overall shape of road vehicles is strongly rectilinear. Additional efficiency is derived from making the weak perspective assumption. These assumptions are valid in the road traffic application domain. The algorithms are demonstrated and tested using routine outdoor traffic images. Success with a variety of vehicles in several traffic scenes demonstrates the efficiency and robustness of context-based image understanding in road traffic scene analysis. The limitations of the algorithms are also addressed.
  @cite_10: This contribution addresses the problem of pose estimation and tracking of vehicles in image sequences from traffic scenes recorded by a stationary camera. In a new algorithm, the vehicle pose is estimated by directly matching polyhedral vehicle models to image gradients without an edge segment extraction process. The new approach is significantly more robust than approaches that rely on feature extraction since the new approach exploits more information from the image data. We successfully tracked vehicles that were partially occluded by textured objects, e.g., foliage, where a previous approach based on edge segment extraction failed. Moreover, the new pose estimation approach is also used to determine the orientation and position of the road relative to the camera by matching an intersection model directly to image gradients. Results from various experiments with real world traffic scenes are presented.
summary: Image gradients Gray scale image gradients have been used to estimate the 3D pose in traffic video footage from a stationary camera by Kollnig and Nagel @cite_10 . The method compares image gradients instead of simple edge segments, for better performance. Image gradients from projected polyhedral models are compared against image gradients in video images. The pose is formulated using 3 degrees of freedom; 2 for position and 1 for angular orientation. Tan and Baker @cite_24 use image gradients and a Hough transform based algorithm for estimating vehicle pose in traffic scenes, once more describing the pose via 3 degrees of freedom. Pose estimation using 3 degrees of freedom is adequate for traffic image sequences, where the camera position remains fixed with respect to the ground plane. However, this approach does not provide a full pose estimate required for a general purpose application.