Homogenized ORB Algorithm Using Dynamic Threshold and Improved Quadtree

The Oriented FAST and Rotated BRIEF (ORB) algorithm has the problem that the extracted feature points are overconcentrated or even overlapped, leading to information loss of local image features. A homogenized ORB algorithm using dynamic thresholds and improved quadtree method is proposed in this paper, named Quadtree ORB (QTORB). In the feature point extraction stage, a new dynamic local threshold calculation method is proposed to enhance the algorithm’s ability to extract feature points at homogeneous regions. Then, a quadtree method is improved and adopted to manage and optimize feature points to eliminate those excessively concentrated and overlapping feature points. Meanwhile, in the feature points optimization process, different quadtree depths are set at different image pyramid levels to prevent excessive splitting of the quadtree and increase calculation speed. In the feature point description stage, local gray difference value information is introduced to enhance the saliency of the feature description. Finally, the Hamming distance is used to match points and RANSAC is used to avoid mismatches. Two datasets, namely, the optical image dataset and SAR image dataset, are used in the experiment. The experimental result shows that, considering accuracy and real-time efficiency, the QTORB can effectively improve the distribution uniformity of feature points.