Automated Fast Initial Guess in Digital Image Correlation

ABSTRACT A challenging task that has hampered the fully automatic processing of the digital image correlation (DIC) technique is the initial guess when large deformation and rotation are present. In this paper, a robust scheme combining the concepts of a scale‐invariant feature transform (SIFT) algorithm and an improved random sample consensus (iRANSAC) algorithm is employed to conduct an automated fast initial guess for the DIC technique. The scale‐invariant feature transform algorithm can detect a certain number of matching points from two images even though the corresponding deformation and rotation are large or the images have periodic and identical patterns. After removing the wrong matches with the improved random sample consensus algorithm, the three pairs of closest and non‐collinear matching points serve for the purpose of initial guess calculation. The validity of the technique is demonstrated by both computer simulation and real experiment.