Apparatus for determining a surface condition of an object
First Claim
1. An apparatus using a computer for determining a surface condition of an inspected object, the apparatus comprising:
- an imaging device for imaging the inspected object; and
an image processing unit configured to;
detect a potential region in the image of the inspected object, the potential region having an intensity different from the other regions in the image by more than a predetermined threshold value;
identify an inspected region surrounding the potential region;
extract a feature for a predetermined parameter from the inspected region; and
determine the surface condition based on the feature.
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Abstract
The present invention provides an apparatus and a method for determining a surface condition of an inspected object. A potential region having an intensity different from the other regions by more than a predetermined threshold value in an object image captured by an imaging device is detected. An inspected region surrounding the potential region is identified. A feature for a parameter is extracted from the inspected region. The surface condition is determined based on the feature. The parameter includes one or more of an area of the potential region, a slope of the potential region, an intensity value entropy of the inspected region, an intensity value anisotropy of the inspected region, an average intensity value of an edge image of the inspected region, and a roundness of the potential region.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An apparatus using a computer for determining a surface condition of an inspected object, the apparatus comprising:
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an imaging device for imaging the inspected object; and
an image processing unit configured to;
detect a potential region in the image of the inspected object, the potential region having an intensity different from the other regions in the image by more than a predetermined threshold value;
identify an inspected region surrounding the potential region;
extract a feature for a predetermined parameter from the inspected region; and
determine the surface condition based on the feature. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. An apparatus using a computer for determining a surface condition of an inspected object, the inspected object having a plurality of consecutive units of similar texture on the surface, the apparatus comprising:
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an imaging device for sequentially imaging the consecutive units on the surface of the inspected object while rotating the inspected object relatively to the imaging device; and
an image processing unit configured to;
determine a differential image between a current image and a previous image in the consecutive images;
detect a potential region having an intensity exceeding a predetermined threshold value in the differential image;
identify an inspected region surrounding the potential region;
extract a feature for a plurality of predetermined parameters from the inspected region; and
determine the surface condition based on the feature.
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5. An apparatus using a computer for generating a data map to be used for determining a surface condition of an inspected object, the inspected object having a plurality of consecutive units of similar texture on the surface, the apparatus comprising an image processing unit configured to:
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extract a feature vector from each of a plurality of samples of an inspected region of the inspected object;
self-organizing learn through use of the feature vectors to generate a self-organizing map;
group neurons that correspond to each same sample and are adjacent to each other into a cluster in the self-organizing map; and
classify one or more clusters as corresponding to a predetermined surface condition and the other one or more clusters as not corresponding to the predetermined surface condition to generate the data map. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An apparatus for determining a surface condition of an inspected object, the apparatus comprising:
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a storage device for storing a plurality of data maps provided for respective parts of the inspected object, each of the data maps learning a surface condition of the corresponding part of the inspected object; and
an imaging device for imaging the inspected object; and
an image processing unit configured to;
identify an inspected region in the image of the inspected object, the inspected region including a potential region that has an intensity different from the other regions in the image by more than a predetermined threshold value;
extract a feature vector from the inspected region;
identify a part of the inspected object to which the inspected region belongs;
select a data map corresponding to the identified part; and
input the feature vector into the selected data map to determine whether the inspected region has a predetermined surface condition. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. An apparatus for determining a surface condition of an inspected object, the apparatus comprising:
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an imaging device for sequentially imaging a surface of the inspected object while rotating the inspected object relatively to the imaging device; and
an image processing unit configured to;
detect a potential region having an intensity different from the other regions in each image by more than a predetermined threshold value;
identify an inspected region surrounding the detected potential region; and
determine that a predetermined surface condition is included in the inspected region when the inspected region is identified at the same position on the inspected object over a plurality of consecutive images captured by the imaging device. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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18. An apparatus for automatically determining a cause of a surface condition of an inspected object, the apparatus comprising:
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a storage device for storing a cause seeking map in which neurons are clustered for each of causes of the surface condition in a form of a self-organizing map;
an imaging device for imaging the inspected object; and
an image processing unit configured to;
detect a potential region having an intensity different from the other regions in the image by more than a predetermined threshold value;
identify an inspected region surrounding the potential region;
determine whether the inspected region includes a predetermined surface condition;
identify position information of the inspected region determined as including the predetermined surface condition;
extract, from the position information, a position vector representing a position of the predetermined surface condition on the inspected object;
input the extracted position vector into the cause seeking map;
identify a neuron in the cause seeking map, the neuron having a minimum distance between the position vector that has been input into the cause seeking map and a coupling coefficient vector for the neuron; and
determine a cause of the predetermined surface condition in accordance with a cluster to which the identified neuron belongs. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification