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An improved ORB feature point purification method has been proposed to address the problem of large feature point matching error and low image registration rate in the oriented FAST and rotated BRIEF (ORB) feature point color image matching algorithm. Pure virtual quaternions were used to represent the color image pixels in this method, and an improved FAST algorithm was used to detect the color feature points at first. The firework algorithm has been used to divide the detected feature points into key areas, auxiliary areas, and small influence areas, depending on the degree of attachment. The feature points of the key area and the subsidiary area are the required feature points. In order to further improve the efficiency of matching the color image feature points, the firework explosion radius formula and the explosion number formula in the firework algorithm have been improved, and an improved firework algorithm is proposed. This improved algorithm purifies the quaternion-represented color image feature points. For feature matching, the hamming distance was used. Experiments show that, when compared to the traditional ORB algorithm, the improved algorithm retains the key feature points of the color image with high accuracy, removes a large number of irrelevant feature points and noise points, and provides significantly higher accuracy and efficiency of color image matching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A stochastic algorithm for obtaining feasible initial populations to the Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows is presented. The theoretical formulation for the Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows is explained. The proposed method is primarily divided into a clustering algorithm and a two-phase algorithm. The first step is the application of a modified k-means clustering algorithm which is proposed in this paper. The two-phase algorithm evaluates a partial solution to transform it into a feasible individual. The two-phase algorithm consists of a hybridization of four kinds of insertions which interact randomly to obtain feasible individuals. It has been proven that different kinds of insertions impact the diversity among individuals in initial populations, which is crucial for population-based algorithm behavior. A modification to the Hamming distance method is applied to the populations generated for the Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows to evaluate their diversity. Experimental tests were performed based on the Solomon benchmarking. Experimental results show that the proposed method facilitates generation of highly diverse populations, which vary according to the type and distribution of the instances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]