image acquisition systems which were built by our research team for 
specific purposes. 
A microcomputer-based image processing system manufactured by 
International Robomation/Intelligence Inc. of Carlsbad Ca. (IRI) is used 
for near-realtime image computation and realtime image acquisition. The 
application of this system to automated measurement of object coordinates 
will be discussed in a later section. The system is utilized for studying 
algorithms such as automated target measurement and correlation (matching) 
for close range photogrammetric applications. This work has clearly 
demonstrated the value of digital techniques. The hardware of the IRI 
system (figure II) includes a Motorola MC68010 central processor operating 
at 12.5 MHz. It has 1 MB of memory expandable to 15 MB. Images can be 
stored in four frame buffers or a 40 MB Winchester disk. Program load is 
accomplished through a 1 MB floppy disk. Up to four cameras can be 
connected simultaneously. Image acquisition is performed at 30 frames per 
second on a 256 by 256 image with 8 bits of dynamic range. The image is 
displayed on a monochromatic monitor, either in realtime or "freeze" 
frame. Four standard RS232 terminal ports are available. Built-in 
coprocessor hardware provides 50 MOPS computing power supported by an 
effective library of preprogrammed routines. Additional arithmetic 
hardware is provided for the specific tasks of histogramming and intensity 
mapping. : 
The ARIES-II image processing system, manufactured by DIPIX Ltd. 
of Ottawa, Canada is used for both computational and display aspects of 
digital image processing (figure III). This system does not have high 
speed image processing power like the IRI system but it does offer a very 
powerful and flexible colour image display capability. The surface of the 
display monitor can be divided into rectangular windows with any image in 
memory displayed in any of these windows. Each image is composed of 
several layers. Three "feature" layers are usually used to define the red, 
green and blue (RGB) colours. Opaque "theme" layers provide overlays 
typically used for graphics. The architecture was designed for Landsat 
type applications, but is nicely suited to photogrammetric image viewing. 
With so many aspects of the display programmable, it provided a good 
vehicle for studying aspects of digital stereoscopic image presentation 
for measurement. By defining display topologies with dual images, stereo 
digital imagery has been generated for experimental purposes. Control of 
image position and scale is available through software or interactive 
bitpad commands. The image control capabilities of this system are used in 
the study of image manipulation techniques for online digital 
photogrammetric measurement systems. The ARIES-II has three fundamental 
components which are loosely coupled through a dual port memory interface 
(DPI). This interface allows the three components to access the 2 MB of 
video memory array and the register memory (VMA), each through its own 
address space. The image processing system host (IPS) and the image 
display system controller (IDS) each have an 8 KB window into the video 
memory array and register memory, while the video display system hardware 
(VDS) can address the entire VMA on its system bus. Interaction between 
the systems, apart from sharing image data, is accomplished by a complex 
table structure and a message packet exchange system between the IPS and 
the IDS (figure IV). 
The image processing system (IPS) of the ARIES-IT performs direct 
image computations either memory to memory or disk to disk. This general 
purpose minicomputer has been used for numeric analysis of geometric 
precision and for development of automated moire fringe ordering and 
surface modeling. The advantages of a sophisticated colour display through 
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