Volumetric model and 3D trajectory of a moving car derived from monocular TV frame sequences of a street scene

A polyhedral approximation for the volumetric description of a moving rigid object in a real-world scene is derived, based on measurements made on monocular TV frame sequences. The trajectory and attitude of the object motion relative to the camera is simultaneously determined up to the same factor which scales the object description. Results from two street scene sequences are presented. The approach is compared to related ones reported in the recent literature. Our experience forced us to modify the relaxation approach ofBarnard and Thompson (IEEE Trans. Pattern Anal. Mach. Intell.PAMI-2, 1980, 333–340; Technical Report 79-1, Computer Science Department, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 1979) in order to obtain acceptable results. These modifications are described and discussed.