Experiences with automatic relative orientation

A report on recent experiences with a new procedure for automatic relative orientation is given. A hierarchical approach provides conjugate points using image pyramids. The implemented method is based on feature extraction by an interest operator, feature matching between the two images, area-based image correlation, a robust least squares bundle adjustment and feature tracking through several levels of the image pyramid. The automatic procedure proved to be successful for various combinations of terrain relief, surface cover, and image scale. The paper presents the results of intensive tests. It was found that only a limited number of control parameters of the algorithm have to be individually adjusted to the terrain specifics. Further investigations need to be conducted to find out whether the project- dependent parameters can be reliably predicted for certain classes of images.