This paper deals with the problem of connecting two planer shapes on a single boundary. This jigsaw-like problem is encountered in many fields. The previous approaches involved what is referred to as pattern matching technology, including feature extraction. Our algorithm takes a different approach, wherein we evaluate the connection of two shapes by the area remaining between them. In this algorithm, we attempted to overlap matching boundaries of two shapes, so as to minimize the region lying between them. If this region was, in fact, narrow enough, it would prove their near-perfect connection. The advantage of this particular method is that it requires no complicated feature extractions or no point-to-point correspondence between boundaries. In order to put this method to practical use, we presented an algorithm to calculate the aforementioned area regardless of shape. A computer simulation of the connection using Koch's curves as boundaries shows its efficiency.

This paper presents a technique by which any linear CCD camera, be it one with lens distortions, or even one with misaligned lens and CCD, may be calibrated to obtain optimum performance characteristics. The camera-image formation model is described as a polynomial expression, which provides the line-of-sight flat-beam, including the target light-spot. The coefficients of the expression, which are referred to as camera parameters, can be estimated using the linear least-squares technique, in order to minimize the discrepancy between the reference points and the model-driven flat-beam. This technique requires, however, that a rough estimate of camera orientation, as well as a number of reference points, are provided. Experiments employing both computer simulations and actual CCD equipment certified that the model proposed can accurately describe the system, and that the parameter estimation is robust against noise.

Efforts have been cumulated to measure tooth mobility, in order to accurately characterize the mechanical features of periodontal tissues. This paper provides a totally new technique for accomplishing the task of measuring tooth displacement in 6 degrees of freedom, using a range finder. Its intraoral equipment comprises two elements, a moving polyhedron and a referential device, both of which are secured to a subject tooth and several other teeth splinted together. The polyhedron has 6 planar surfaces, each oriented in a distinctly different direction, with each plane facing an opposing range finder mounted on the referential part. If the sensor geometry is provided, the position and orientation of the movable part, vis-a-vis the reference, can be determined theoretically from the distances between all the range finders and their opposing surfaces. This computation was mathematically formulated as a non-linear optimization problem, the numerical solution of which can be obtained iteratively. Its error-propagation formula was also provided as a linear approximation.