Systems and methods for boundary detection in images
First Claim
1. A method for generating a case-specific boundary locating routine for determining a boundary location on an image of an object that is imaged by a machine vision system having at least two image filtering elements, the method comprising:
- identifying an area of interest on the image of the object that is imaged by the machine vision system, the area of interest indicative of the boundary to be located on the object;
determining at least two filtered image results in the vicinity of the area of interest, the at least two filtered image results based at least partially on at least one of the at least two image filtering elements;
selecting at least one of the at least two image filtering elements based on the at least two filtered image results;
determining the case-specific boundary locating routine, wherein the case-specific boundary locating routine comprises;
generating a pseudo-image that includes a boundary to be located on the object, the pseudo-image based on the at least one selected image filtering element; and
performing an edge detection operation on the pseudo-image to determine the boundary location, the boundary location useable as a dimensional inspection measurement for the object imaged by the machine vision system.
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Abstract
Systems and methods that accurately detect and locate an edge or boundary position based on a number of different characteristics of the image, such as texture, intensity, color, etc. A user can invoke a boundary detection tool to perform, for example, a texture-based edge-finding operation, possibly along with a conventional intensity gradient edge-locating operation. The boundary detection tool defines a primary region of interest that will include an edge or boundary to be located within a captured image of an object. The boundary detection tool is useable to locate edges in a current object, and to quickly and robustly locate corresponding edges of similar objects in the future.
132 Citations
41 Claims
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1. A method for generating a case-specific boundary locating routine for determining a boundary location on an image of an object that is imaged by a machine vision system having at least two image filtering elements, the method comprising:
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identifying an area of interest on the image of the object that is imaged by the machine vision system, the area of interest indicative of the boundary to be located on the object;
determining at least two filtered image results in the vicinity of the area of interest, the at least two filtered image results based at least partially on at least one of the at least two image filtering elements;
selecting at least one of the at least two image filtering elements based on the at least two filtered image results;
determining the case-specific boundary locating routine, wherein the case-specific boundary locating routine comprises;
generating a pseudo-image that includes a boundary to be located on the object, the pseudo-image based on the at least one selected image filtering element; and
performing an edge detection operation on the pseudo-image to determine the boundary location, the boundary location useable as a dimensional inspection measurement for the object imaged by the machine vision system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method for operating a machine vision system to determine a boundary location on an object that is imaged by the machine vision system having at least two image texture filtering elements, the method comprising:
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identifying an area of interest on the object that is imaged by the machine vision system, the area of interest indicative of the boundary on the object;
generating a pseudo-image that includes the boundary to be located on the object based on at least one image texture filtering element pre-selected based on an analysis of a previous similar-case boundary; and
performing an edge detection operation on the pseudo-image to determine the boundary location, the boundary location useable as a dimensional inspection measurement for the object imaged by the machine vision system. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 39)
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36. A method for operating a machine vision system, the machine vision system comprising:
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a set of image texture filtering elements;
a first mode of edge detection that determines a location of an edge using characteristics other than texture around the edge on an image of an object imaged by the machine vision system;
a second mode of edge detection that determines a location of an edge using the texture around the edge on an image of the object imaged by the machine vision system by using the set of image texture filtering elements;
an image display;
a user input device;
a graphical user interface; and
a set of at least one edge tool;
the method comprising;
acquiring the image of the object including an edge whose location is to be determined;
displaying the acquired image of the object on the image display;
selecting the at least one edge tool;
identifying an area of interest in the displayed image by positioning the at least one edge tool relative to the edge whose location is to be determined;
selecting at least one of the first and second modes of edge detection; and
determining a case-specific edge locating routine based on the selected at least one of the first and second modes of edge detection, the case-specific edge locating routine used to determine a boundary location useable as a dimensional inspection measurement for the object that is imaged by the machine vision system.
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40. A case-specific boundary locating system for determining a boundary location on an image of an object that is imaged by a machine vision system having at least two image filtering elements, the system comprising:
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a filtered image analyzing section that applies the at least two filtering elements to a textured input image in an area of interest to determine modified data, and that determines filtered image results based on the modified data;
a case-specific filter selection section that selects at least one of the at least two filtering elements that best emphasize the boundary location in the area of interest based on the filtered image results;
a pseudo-image generating section that generates a pseudo-image in the area of interest based on the selected at least one of the at least two filtering elements;
an edge point analyzing section that is applied to the pseudo-image in the area of interest to estimate one or more edge points in the pseudo-image; and
a boundary locating and refining section that analyzes the one or more estimated edge points to determine if they correspond to criteria for a reliable edge.
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41. A case-specific edge locating system having a case-specific edge locating routine for determining a location of an edge on an image of an object that is imaged by a machine vision system, the system comprising:
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a set of image texture filtering elements;
a first mode of edge detection that determines the location of the edge using characteristics other than texture around the edge on the image of the object imaged by the machine vision system;
a second mode of edge detection that determines the location of the edge using the texture around the edge on the image of the object imaged by the machine vision system by using the set of image texture filtering elements;
a graphical user interface;
an image display that displays an acquired image of the object on the image display; and
a user input device that selects at least one edge tool;
wherein;
an area of interest is identified in the displayed acquired image by positioning the at least one edge tool relative to the edge whose location is to be determined, at least one of the first and second modes of edge detection is selected, and the case-specific edge locating routine is determined based on the selected at least one of the first and second modes of edge detection and is used to determine the location of the edge that is useable as a dimensional inspection measurement for the object.
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Specification