Rail Detection Based on LSD and the Least Square Curve Fitting

It is necessary to rely on the rail gauge to determine whether the object beside the track will affect train operation safety or not. A convenient and fast method based on line segment detector (LSD) and the least square curve fitting to identify the rail in the image is proposed in this paper. The image in front of the train can be obtained through the camera on-board. After preprocessing, it will be divided equally along the longitudinal axis. Utilizing the characteristics of the LSD algorithm, the edges are approximated into multiple line segments. After screening the terminals of the line segments, it can generate the mathematical model of the rail in the image based on the least square. Experiments show that the algorithm in this paper can fit the rail curve accurately and has good applicability and robustness.