Parallel Monte Carlo Search for Hough Transform

We investigate the problem of line detection in digital image processing and in special how state of the art algorithms behave in the presence of noise and whether CPU efficiency can be improved by the combination of a Monte Carlo Tree Search, hierarchical space decomposition, and parallel computing.

The starting point of the investigation is the method introduced in 1962 by Paul Hough for detecting lines in binary images. Extended in the 1970s to the detection of space forms, what came to be known as Hough Transform (HT) has been proposed, for example, in the context of track fitting in the LHC ATLAS and CMS projects. The Hough Transform transfers the problem of line detection, for example, into one of optimization of the peak in a vote counting process for cells which contain the possible points of candidate lines. The detection algorithm can be computationally expensive both in the demands made upon the processor and on memory. Additionally, it can have a reduced effectiveness in detection in the presence of noise.

Our first contribution consists in an evaluation of the use of a variation of the Radon Transform as a form of improving theeffectiveness of line detection in the presence of noise. Then, parallel algorithms for variations of the Hough Transform and the Radon Transform for line detection are introduced. An algorithm for Parallel Monte Carlo Search applied to line detection is also introduced. Their algorithmic complexities are discussed. Finally, implementations on multi-GPU and multicore architectures are discussed. (paper)