Jigsaw puzzle solver using shape and color

The jigsaw puzzle assembly problem is significant in that it can be applied to diverse areas such as repair of broken objects, restoration of archaeological findings, molecular docking problem for drug design, etc. This paper describes a new pictorial jigsaw puzzle solver which, in contrast to previous apictorial jigsaw puzzle solvers, uses chromatic information as well as geometric shape. We develop three new puzzle assembly algorithms (TSP&Kbest-based, TSP&AP-based, and AP-based algorithm) and new boundary and color matching operation. We tested the new puzzle solver with 6 different sets of color puzzle pieces. Experimental results show that chromatic information greatly aids in seeking the solution to the jigsaw puzzle problem. It is also discovered that in terms of how rapidly each assembly algorithm reaches a solution, the TSP and Kbest-based algorithm is the best, followed by TSP and AP-based algorithm, and followed by AP-based algorithm