Method and apparatus for high speed identification of objects having an identifying feature
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for identifying an object having an identifying feature, said identifying feature having at least one predefined characteristic, said method comprising the steps of:
- 1) creating a representation of said object;
2) locating at least one feature in said representation of said object having a corresponding characteristic similar to said at least one characteristic of said identifying feature and creating a second representation of at least one other characteristic of said located feature, the step of locating including the substeps of;
sampling at least one portion of said representation of said object at a predefined position in said representation, including sampling, including sampling at predetermined locations across said representation of said object in a predefined direction, said locations being spaced apart by a distance corresponding to at least one characteristic of said identifying feature; and
creating said second representation of said sampled portion of said representation consisting of a representation of at least one other characteristic of said located feature;
3) normalizing at least a portion of said second representation of said at least one other characteristic of said located feature, to create a normalized representation of said feature;
4) comparing said normalized representation of said at least one other characteristic of said feature to a predefined representation of a corresponding characteristic of said identifying feature.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for identifying an object having an identifying feature includes a two step process for detecting the identifying feature. The process involves locating the feature based upon a first characteristic of the feature and then verifying that feature is the identifying feature based upon a second characteristic of the feature. Preferably, the first step of the process is less discriminating and substantially faster than the second step. This permits the process to be performed rapidly without reducing accuracy.
-
Citations
15 Claims
-
1. A method for identifying an object having an identifying feature, said identifying feature having at least one predefined characteristic, said method comprising the steps of:
-
1) creating a representation of said object; 2) locating at least one feature in said representation of said object having a corresponding characteristic similar to said at least one characteristic of said identifying feature and creating a second representation of at least one other characteristic of said located feature, the step of locating including the substeps of; sampling at least one portion of said representation of said object at a predefined position in said representation, including sampling, including sampling at predetermined locations across said representation of said object in a predefined direction, said locations being spaced apart by a distance corresponding to at least one characteristic of said identifying feature; and creating said second representation of said sampled portion of said representation consisting of a representation of at least one other characteristic of said located feature; 3) normalizing at least a portion of said second representation of said at least one other characteristic of said located feature, to create a normalized representation of said feature; 4) comparing said normalized representation of said at least one other characteristic of said feature to a predefined representation of a corresponding characteristic of said identifying feature. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. An apparatus for identifying an object having an identifying feature comprising:
-
means for creating a representation of said object; means for locating at least one feature in said representation of said object having a corresponding characteristic similar to said at least one characteristic of said identifying feature and means for creating a second representation of at least one other characteristic of said located feature, said means for locating further including means for sampling at least one portion of said representation of said object at a predefined position in said representation, said means for sampling including means for sampling at predetermined locations across said representation of said object in a predefined direction, said locations being spaced apart by a distance corresponding to at least one characteristic of said identifying feature, and means for creating said second representation of said sampled portion of said representation, said second representation including a representation of at least one other characteristic of said located feature; means for normalizing at least a portion of said second representation; and means for comparing said normalized second representation of said at least one other characteristic of said at least one feature to a predefined representation of a characteristic of said identifying feature. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A method for identifying an object having a barcode, said barcode having a first predefined characteristic and a second predefined characteristic, said method comprising the steps of:
-
1) creating a representation of said object; 2) locating at least one feature in said representation of said object having a characteristic similar to said first predefined characteristic of said barcode, the step of locating including the step of sampling at predefined locations across said representation of said object in a predefined direction, said locations being spaced apart by a distance corresponding to at least one characteristic of said bar code; 3) creating a representation of a second characteristic of corresponding to said second predefined characteristic; 4) creating a normalized representation of said second characteristic from said representation of said second predefined characteristic; and 5) comparing said normalized representation of said second characteristic to said second predefined characteristic of said barcode. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
-
Specification