Gradient pile up for edge detection on hardware

Edge detection plays a fundamental role in image processing. Many edge detectors have been proposed. Most of them are based on the step edge model and applying smoothing filters to minimize the noise and the image derivative or gradient to enhance the edges. However, image sensors have a limited spatial bandwidth producing ramp edges with the same gradient magnitude as those produced by noise. This work presents a hardware implementation of the proposed edge detection algorithm. Our approach enhances the gradient correspondent to ramp edges without amplifying the noisy ones, for real time computer vision applications. The experimental results show that the proposed hardware implementation enhances the gradient of ramp edges, improving the gradient magnitude without shifting the edge location. Moreover, the execution time is appropriate for real time applications.