Process and apparatus for extracting and recognizing figure elements using division into receptive fields, polar transformation, application of one-dimensional filter, and correlation between plurality of images
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An image processing process comprising:
- a first step for dividing an original image into small areas;
a second step for applying polar transformation to the original image in each of the small areas, to obtain a polar-transformed image of the original image in each of the small areas, where the polar transformation is a transformation between an n-dimensional hyperplane containing an origin in an (n+1)-dimensional Affine space, and a vector passing through the origin and perpendicular to the n-dimensional hyperplane, at least one image element of each of the original images in each of the small areas corresponds to one of said n-dimensional hyperplane and said vector, and a polar-transformed image element which is polar-transformed from each of said at least one image element corresponds to the other of said n-dimensional hyperplane and said vector; and
a third step for applying one-dimensional filtering on the polar-transformed image.
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Abstract
An image processing process wherein an image is divided into small areas, a polar transformation is applied to the image in each of the small areas, and image processing is performed based on the result of the polar transformation. Further, each of a plurality of images is divided into small areas, a polar transformation is applied to the image in each of the small areas for each of the plurality of images, and correlation is obtained between the results of the polar transformation for the plurality of images. One-dimensional filter processing is applied to the polar-transformed output.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. An image processing process comprising:
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a first step for dividing an original image into small areas; a second step for applying polar transformation to the original image in each of the small areas, to obtain a polar-transformed image of the original image in each of the small areas, where the polar transformation is a transformation between an n-dimensional hyperplane containing an origin in an (n+1)-dimensional Affine space, and a vector passing through the origin and perpendicular to the n-dimensional hyperplane, at least one image element of each of the original images in each of the small areas corresponds to one of said n-dimensional hyperplane and said vector, and a polar-transformed image element which is polar-transformed from each of said at least one image element corresponds to the other of said n-dimensional hyperplane and said vector; and a third step for applying one-dimensional filtering on the polar-transformed image. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. An image processing process comprising:
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a first step for dividing an original image into small areas; a second step for applying polar transformation to the original image in each of the small areas, to obtain a polar-transformation image of the original image in each of the small areas, where the polar transformation is a transformation between an n-dimensional hyperplane containing an origin in an (n+1)-dimensional Affine space, and a vector passing through the origin and perpendicular to the n-dimensional hyperplane, at least one image element of each of the original images in each of the small areas corresponds to one of said n-dimensional hyperplane and said vector, and a polar-transformed image element which is polar-transformed from each of said at least one image element corresponds to the other of said n-dimensional hyperplane and said vector; a third step for applying one-dimensional second differential filtering on the solar-transformed image; and a fourth step for extracting a figure element corresponding to a line existing in each of the small areas of the original image from the result of the one-dimensional second differential filtering. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8)
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9. An image processing process comprising:
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a first step for dividing an original image into small areas; a second step for applying polar transformation to the original image in each of the small areas, to obtain a polar-transformed image of the original image in each of the small areas, where the solar transformation is a transformation between an n-dimensional hyperplane containing an origin in an (n+1)=dimensional Affine space, and a vector passing through the origin and perpendicular to the n-dimensional hyperplane, at least one image element of each of the original images in each of the small areas corresponds to one of said n-dimensional hyperplane and said vector, and a polar-transformed image element which is polar-transformed from each of said at least one image element corresponds to the other of said n-dimensional hyperplane and said vector; a third step for applying one-dimensional second differential filtering on the polar-transformed image; a fourth step for inverting the polarity of the result of the one-dimensional second differential filtering; and a fifth step for extracting a figure element corresponding to a gap existing in each of the small areas of the original image from the result of the inverting. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
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12. An image processing process comprising:
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a first step for dividing an original image into small areas; a second step for applying polar transformation to the original image in each of the small areas, to obtain a polar-transformed image of the original image in each of the small areas, where the polar transformation is a transformation between an n-dimensional hyperplane containing an origin in an (n+1)-dimensional Affine space, and a vector passing through the origin and perpendicular to the n-dimensional hyperplane, at least one image element of each of the original images in each of the small areas corresponds to one of said n-dimensional hyperplane and said vector, and a polar-transformed image element which is polar-transformed from each of said at least one image element corresponds to the other of said n-dimensional hyperplane and said vector; a third step for applying one-dimensional first differential filtering on the polar-transformed image; and a fourth step for extracting a figure element corresponding to an edge existing in each of the small areas of the original image from the result of the third step.
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13. An image processing process comprising:
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a first step for dividing an original image into small areas; a second step for applying polar transformation to the original image in each of the small areas, to obtain a polar-transformed image of the original image in each of the small areas, where the polar transformation is a transformation between an n-dimensional hyperplane containing an origin in an (n+1)-dimensional Affine space, and a vector passing through the origin and perpendicular to the n-dimensional hyperplane, at least one image element of each of the original images in each of the small areas corresponds to one of said n-dimensional hyperplane and said vector, and a polar-transformed image element which is polar-transformed from each of said at least one image element corresponds to the other of said n-dimensional hyperplane and said vector; a third step for applying one-dimensional first differential filtering on the polar-transformed image; a fourth step for applying one-dimensional second differential filtering on the result of the one-dimensional first differential filtering; and a fifth step for extracting a figure element corresponding to an edge existing in each of the small areas of the original image from the result of the fourth step. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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17. An image processing process comprising:
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a first step for dividing an original image into small areas; a second step for applying polar transformation to the original image in each of the small areas, to obtain a polar-transformed image of the original image in each of the small areas, where the polar transformation is a transformation between an n-dimensional hyperplane containing an origin in an (n+1)-dimensional Affine space, and a vector passing through the origin and perpendicular to the n-dimensional hyperplane, at least one image element of each of the original images in each of the small areas corresponds to one of said n-dimensional hyperplane and said vector, and a polar-transformed image element which is polar-transformed from each of said at least one image element corresponds to the other of said n-dimensional hyperplane and said vector; a third step for applying one-dimensional second differential filtering on the polar-transformation image; a fourth step for extracting a figure element corresponding to a line existing in each of the small areas of the original image based on the result of the third step and for producing a fourth step result; a fifth step for applying one-dimensional first differential filtering on the polar-transformed image and for producing a fifth step result; and a sixth step for extracting a line which does not coincide with the line obtained in the fourth step, from the fifth step result, as a figure element corresponding to an edge existing in each of the small areas of the original image.
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18. An image processing process comprising:
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a first step for dividing an original image into small areas; a second step for applying polar transformation to the original image in each of the small areas, to obtain a polar-transformed image of the original image in each of the small areas, where the polar transformation is a transformation between an n-dimensional hyperplane containing an origin in an (n+1)-dimensional Affine space, and a vector passing through the origin and perpendicular to the n-dimensional hyperplane, at least one image element of each of the original images in each of the small areas corresponds to one of said n-dimensional hyperplane and said vector, and a polar-transformed image element which is polar-transformed from each of said at least one image element corresponds to the other of said n-dimensional hyperplane and said vector; a third step for applying one-dimensional second differential filtering on the polar-transformed image; a fourth step for extracting a candidate of a figure element corresponding to a line existing in each of the small areas of the original image from the result of the third step; a fifth step for applying one-dimensional first differential filtering on the polar-transformed image; a sixth step for extracting a candidate of a figure element corresponding to an edge existing in each of the small areas of the original image from the result of the fourth step; and a seventh step for extracting figure elements corresponding to a line and an edge, respectively, existing in each of the small areas of the original image from the candidates of the figure elements corresponding to the line and the edge of the fourth and sixth steps.
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19. An image processing process comprising:
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a first step for dividing an original image into small areas; a second step for applying polar transformation to each pixel in the original image in each of the small areas, and obtaining a curve on a predetermined dual plane as a polar-transformed image element of each pixel in the original image in each of the small areas, where the polar transformation is a transformation between an n-dimensional hyperplane containing an origin in an (n+1)-dimensional Affine space, and a vector passing through the origin and perpendicular to the n-dimensional hyperplane, each pixel of the original image in each of the small areas corresponds to said vector, and said curve as said polar-transformed image element which is polar-transformed from each pixel corresponds to said n-dimensional hyperplane; a third step for obtaining an accumulated polar-transformed image on the dual plane by accumulatively storing in a memory having a storage area for each pixel on the dual plane, a value of each pixel in the original image, as a value of each pixel constituting said curve on the dual plane; and a fourth step for applying one-dimensional filtering on the accumulated polar-transformed image in each of the small areas. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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21. An image processing apparatus comprising:
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a first means for dividing an original image into small areas; a second means for applying polar transformation to the original image in each of the small areas, to obtain a polar-transformed image of the original image in each of the small areas, where the polar transformation is a transformation between an n-dimensional hyperplane containing an origin in an (n+1)-dimensional Affine space, and a vector passing through the origin and perpendicular to the n-dimensional hyperplane, at least one image element of each of the original images in each of the small areas corresponds to one of said n-dimensional hyperplane and said vector, and a polar-transformed image element which is polar-transformed from each of said at least one image element corresponds to the other of said n-dimensional hyperplane and said vector; and a one-dimensional filter for applying one-dimensional filtering on the polar-transforming image.
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22. An image processing apparatus comprising:
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first means for dividing an original image into small areas; second means for applying polar transformation to each pixel in the original image in each of the small areas, and obtaining a curve on a predetermined dual plane as a polar-transformed image element of each pixel in the original image in each of the small areas, where the polar transformation is a transformation between an n-dimensional hyperplane containing an origin in an (n+1)-dimensional Affine space, and a vector passing through the origin and perpendicular to the n-dimensional hyperplane, each pixel of the original image in each of the small areas corresponds to said vector, and said curve as said polar-transformed image element which is polar-transformed from each pixel corresponds to said n-dimensional hyperplane; a memory having a storage area for each pixel on the dual plane; third means for obtaining an accumulated polar-transformed image on the dual plane by accumulatively storing in the memory, a value of each pixel in the original image, as a value of each pixel constituting said curve on the dual plane; and a one-dimensional filter for applying one-dimensional filtering on the accumulated polar-transformed image.
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23. A computer readable product storing at least one program which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor and its associated hardware to carry out the steps of:
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a first step for dividing an original image into small areas; a second step for applying polar transformation to the original image in each of the small areas, to obtain a solar-transformed image of the original image in each of the small areas, where the polar transformation is a transformation between an n-dimensional hyperplane containing an origin in an (n+1)-dimensional Affine space, and a vector passing through the origin and perpendicular to the n-dimensional hyperplane, at least one image element of each of the original images in each of the small areas corresponds to one of said n-dimensional hyperplane and said vector, and a polar-transformed image element which is polar-transformed from each of said at least one image element corresponds to the other of said n-dimensional hyperplane and said vector; and a third step for applying one-dimensional filtering on the polar-transformed image.
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24. A program executing machine containing a computer readable product storing at least one program which, when executed by the program executing machine, causes the program executing machine and its associated hardware to carry out the steps of:
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a first step for dividing an original image into small areas; a second step for applying polar transformation to the original image in each of the small areas, to obtain a polar-transformed image of the original image in each of the small areas, where the polar transformation is a transformation between an n-dimensional hyperplane containing an origin in an (n+1)-dimensional Affine space, and a vector passing through the origin and perpendicular to the n-dimensional hyperplane, at least one image element of each of the original images in each of the small areas corresponds to one of said n-dimensional hyperplane and said vector, and a polar-transformed image element which is polar-transformed from each of said at least one image element corresponds to the other of said n-dimensional hyperplane and said vector; and
;a third step for applying one-dimensional filtering on the polar-transformed image.
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25. An image processing process comprising:
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dividing an original image into small areas; applying polar transformation to the original image in each of the small areas, wherein said polar transformation comprises an n-dimensional hyperplane containing an origin in an (n+1)-dimensional affine space and a vector passing through the origin and perpendicular to the n-dimensional hyperplane; and applying one-dimensional filtering to the result of the polar transformation.
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Specification