An automatic focusing algorithm

A simple and effective automatic focusing algorithm is proposed in this article. The principle of the proposed automatic focusing algorithm is based on that, for the radial test pattern, a best-focused image should have the smallest blurred region in the middle of the acquired image, and hence, should have the smallest equivalent radius. The circular Hough transform has became a common method in numerous image-processing applications for circle detection. Various modifications to the basic circular Hough transform have been suggested, such as: the inclusion of edge orientation, simultaneous consideration of a range of circle radii, the use of a complex accumulator array with the phase proportional to the log of the radius, or for filter operations. The purpose of this work is to show that a radius of a circular region extracted by a normalized circular Hough transform is a possible solution for determining the sharpness of images. To acquire high quality images with a given CCD camera, it is crucial that the camera be located exactly at the back length of the lens, i.e., the focus position of the lens. In the best conditions, the contours of the acquired images are of the sharpest, with none of the blurring effects associated with unfocused images. Acquiring such high quality images by these means is the main goal of the automatic focusing algorithm proposed in this article. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 12, 235–238, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ima.10029