Log-polar transform-based wavelet-modified maximum average correlation height filter for distortion invariance in a hybrid digital-optical correlator

We discuss and implement a log-polar transform-based distortion-invariant filter for automatic target recognition applications. The log-polar transform is a known space-invariant image representation used in several image vision systems to eliminate the effects of scale and rotation in an image. For in-plane rotation invariance and scale invariance, a log-polar transform-based filter was synthesized. In cases of in-plane rotation invariance, peaks shift horizontally, and in cases of scale invariance, peaks shift vertically. To achieve out-of-plane rotation invariance, log-polar images were used to train the wavelet-modified maximum average correlation height (WaveMACH) filter. The designed filters were implemented in the hybrid digital-optical correlation scheme. It was observed that, for a certain range of rotation and scale differences, the correlation signals merge with the strong dc. To solve this problem a shift was introduced in the log-polar image of the target. The use of a chirp function for dc removal has also been discussed. Correlation peak height and peak-to-sidelobe ratio have been calculated as metrics of goodness of the log-polar transform-based WaveMACH filter. Experimental results are presented.