An axiomatic approach to clustering line-segments

In this paper we consider the problem of clustering line-segments into new ones. The clustering-hierarchy gives an answer to the question what original line segments are combined into larger ones. Such a clustering is defined as a hierarchical ordering of a set of line-segments. Criteria on a clustering-method are presented. The difference between edges and lines in relation to scale-invariant clustering is demonstrated. Existing approaches are evaluated using the presented criteria. It is shown that these approaches do not meet desirable criteria such as scale-invariance. A new method is described that adheres the formulated criteria. Finally an experiment is presented that illustrates the usefulness of the new method