A novel fuzzy logic approach to pavement distress detection

In this paper, a novel pavement distress detection algorithm based on fuzzy logic is proposed. The idea of the proposed method is based on the fact that the crack pixels in pavement images are ''darker than their surroundings and continuous.'' First, the proposed method determines how much darker the pixels are than the surroundings. This is done by determining the brightness membership function for gray levels in the difference image. Then, we check the connectivity of the darker pixels to eliminate the pixels which lack of connectivity. Finally, image projections are employed to classify cracks. The experimental results have shown that the cracks are correctly and effectively detected by the proposed method. The main advantages of the proposed method are: (1) It can correctly find out thin cracks even from very noisy pavement images. (2) It can be operated automatically (3) The efficiency and accuracy of the proposed algorithm are superior. (4) Application-dependent nature, instead of image-dependent, will simplify the design of the system.