Mechanism for tracking colored objects in a video sequence
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An automated object tracking system for tracking a colored object through a series of frames of data, comprising:
- a first image source device to provide a data array of pixels of a digital image;
a second image source device to provide a binary image of the data array; and
an analysis system to create a first histogram for columns of the binary image, and a second histogram for rows of the binary image, each of the first histogram and the second histogram being thresholded and filtered to create a first thresholded filtered histogram and a second thresholded filtered histogram, wherein the filtering reduces the effect of noise and reduces the effect of pixels in the data array away from a main concentration of pixels, and after thresholding and filtering, are utilized to estimate a center of the colored object in the binary image.
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Abstract
An automated object tracking system for tracking a colored object through a series of frames of data. The system has a first image source device to provide a data array of pixels of a digital image. A second image source device provides a binary image of the data array. The system utilizes an analysis system to create a first histogram for columns of the binary image and a second histogram for rows of the binary image. Each histogram is thresholded, and after being thresholding, is utilized to estimate the center of a tracked object in the binary image.
149 Citations
24 Claims
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1. An automated object tracking system for tracking a colored object through a series of frames of data, comprising:
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a first image source device to provide a data array of pixels of a digital image;
a second image source device to provide a binary image of the data array; and
an analysis system to create a first histogram for columns of the binary image, and a second histogram for rows of the binary image, each of the first histogram and the second histogram being thresholded and filtered to create a first thresholded filtered histogram and a second thresholded filtered histogram, wherein the filtering reduces the effect of noise and reduces the effect of pixels in the data array away from a main concentration of pixels, and after thresholding and filtering, are utilized to estimate a center of the colored object in the binary image. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An automated object tracking system for tracking a colored object through a series of frames of data, comprising:
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a first image source device to provide a data array of pixels of a digital image;
a second image source device to provide a binary image of the data array; and
an analysis system to create a first histogram for columns of the binary image, and a second histogram for rows of the binary image, wherein each of the first histogram and the second histogram are thresholded and filtered, and after thresholding and filtering, are utilized to estimate a center of the colored object in the binary image, wherein a search window is created in the binary image, the search window being centered around the estimated center of the colored object, a centroid of “
1”
pixels (“
1”
representing a pixel that is determined to have similar characteristics to those of the colored object) in the search window is determined, the analysis system searches for pixels having predetermined characteristics located within a predetermined distance from the centroid, andif a predetermined number of pixels having predetermined characteristics are located within the predetermined distance from the centroid, the analysis system determines that the centroid is the center of the tracked object.
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9. A method of automatically tracking a colored object through a series of frames of data, comprising:
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providing a data array of pixels of a digital image, the digital image created by an image source;
providing a binary image of the data array; and
creating a first histogram for columns of the binary image and a second histogram for rows of the binary image, thresholding and filtering the first histogram and the second histogram to create a first thresholded filtered histogram and a second thresholded filtered histogram, wherein the filtering reduces the effect of noise and reduces the effect of pixels in the data array that are away from a main concentration of pixels, and utilizing the first thresholded filtered histogram and the second thresholded filtered histogram to estimate the center of the colored object in the binary image. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of automatically tracking a colored object through a series of frames of data, comprising:
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providing a data array of pixels of a digital image;
providing a binary image of the data array;
creating a first histogram for columns of the binary image and a second histogram for rows of the binary image, wherein each histogram is thresholded and filtered, and after thresholding and filtering, are utilized to estimate the center of the colored object in the binary image;
creating a search window in the binary image, the search window being centered around the estimated center of the colored object;
determining a centroid of “
1”
pixels (“
1”
representing a pixel that is determined to have similar characteristics to those of the colored object) in the search window;
searching for pixels having predetermined characteristics located within a predetermined distance from the centroid; and
determining that the centroid is the center of the tracked object if a predetermined number of pixels having predetermined pixels are located within the predetermined distance from the centroid.
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17. A method of automatically tracking a colored object through a series of frames of data, comprising:
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providing a data array of pixels of a digital image;
creating a binary image from the data array of pixels by comparing each pixel in the data array of pixels to a pixel classification map wherein a first value represents that a pixel corresponds to an object in the pixel classification map and a second value represents that a pixel does not correspond to an object in the pixel classification map;
creating a first histogram for columns of the binary image and creating a second histogram for rows of the binary image;
filtering at least one of the first histogram and the second histogram to create a filtered first histogram and a filtered second histogram to reduce the effect of a remote column or remote row having a large number of pixels which have the first value that are away from a main concentration of pixels having the first value;
thresholding the filtered first histogram and the filtered second histogram to create a thresholded filtered first histogram and a thresholded filtered second histogram to erase columns and rows below a specified threshold level; and
utilizing the filtered thresholded first histogram and the filtered thresholded second histogram to estimate the center of the colored object in the binary image. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification