Raster Image Centerline Representation via Planar Map Adjacency
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current techniques for tracing raster images into vector images often result in 'gapping' issues due to the failure to respect adjacencies between regions, making it difficult to represent images using a combination of outlines and centerlines, which is essential for intuitive editing and idealization.
Innovation Solution
A system that uses a planar map representation to trace raster images, employing a winged-edge data structure and Voronoi diagrams to determine centerlines, allowing for the transformation of subregions from outlines to centerlines and the association of emergent boundaries with subregions, thereby eliminating gapping problems and enabling intuitive editing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If current tracing techniques are used to convert raster images to vector images, then the conversion process can be completed, but gapping issues occur due to failure to respect adjacencies between regions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the tracing process into distinct phases: creating a planar map representation of the raster image, identifying regions and their adjacencies, and then generating vector paths that respect these adjacencies. This segmentation allows the system to systematically handle region boundaries and prevent gapping issues by ensuring each region's boundaries are properly connected to adjacent regions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a planar map as an intermediary data structure between the raster image and the final vector output. This planar map explicitly represents adjacencies between regions, serving as a mediator that ensures proper connectivity is maintained during the conversion process, thereby eliminating gapping issues in the final vector image.
2Ease of manufacture
If outline tracing is used to represent boundaries of regions, then the regions can be filled, but editing becomes cumbersome requiring simultaneous manipulation of two closely spaced lines
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic system that allows users to switch between outline and centerline representation modes. The planar map structure enables flexible manipulation where centerlines can be independently edited without affecting adjacent regions, providing dynamic adaptability in editing operations while maintaining the ability to fill regions when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the boundary representation into independent centerlines that can be manipulated separately from region fills. This segmentation allows editors to work with centerlines as distinct entities rather than being constrained to manipulate pairs of closely spaced outline lines, significantly improving editing ease while preserving region integrity.
3Ease of operation
If centerlines are used to represent regions, then intuitive editing and idealization are enabled, but current techniques cannot properly represent adjacencies between regions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses the planar map as an intermediary that explicitly stores adjacency information between regions. This intermediary structure ensures that when centerlines are generated and manipulated, the underlying adjacency relationships are preserved and respected, maintaining reliability of region boundaries even as centerlines are independently edited for intuitive control.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the representation parameters by introducing a planar map data structure that tracks adjacencies separately from the visual centerline representation. This parameter change allows the system to maintain accurate adjacency information while enabling flexible centerline manipulation, resolving the contradiction between editing intuitiveness and adjacency reliability.
4Ease of operation
If a combination of outlines and centerlines is used to represent an image, then intuitive editing and idealization are enabled, but gapping problems occur due to failure to respect adjacencies
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a planar map as an intermediary that explicitly represents adjacencies between all regions, regardless of whether they are represented by outlines or centerlines. This intermediary ensures that the mixed representation style maintains proper connectivity and prevents gapping problems by enforcing adjacency respect across different representation types.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a universal planar map structure that handles both outline and centerline representations uniformly. This multi-functional approach allows the system to manage mixed representation styles while maintaining consistent adjacency rules, enabling editing flexibility without introducing gapping problems between differently represented regions.
Data Source
AI summary
One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that can represent an area of a raster image by a centerline. During operation, the system receives a planar map which represents a raster image that contains a region. Note that the region corresponds to a face in the planar map whose edges correspond to the boundaries of the region. Next, the system determines a centerline for a subregion within the region which is currently represented by an outline. The system then transforms the planar map so that the subregion is represented by the centerline.