Optical coin discrimination systems and methods for use with consumer-operated kiosks and the like
First Claim
1. A method for identifying coins, the method comprising:
- obtaining a first image of a coin;
generating a second image from the first image;
transforming the second image to a 2D third image using a 2D Fourier transform;
identifying at least one of a location and an intensity of a spectral peak in the 2D third image; and
comparing at least one of the location and the intensity of the spectral peak in the 2D third image to at least one known coin property.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and associated methods for optical coin discrimination are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a method for discriminating coins includes obtaining a digital image of a coin, identifying the outline of the coin using a suitable algorithm, and determining the diameter of the coin using the outline of the coin. The method of this embodiment further includes generating a rectangular image of the coin using, for example, a log-polar transform, generating a series of, for example, Fourier transforms from the rectangular image, and identifying spectral peak locations and intensities in the Fourier transform results. The diameter of the coin, spectral peak location, spectral peak intensity of the coin and/or other aspects of the coin can then be compared to known values for different coins to discriminate the coin.
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Citations
31 Claims
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1. A method for identifying coins, the method comprising:
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obtaining a first image of a coin; generating a second image from the first image; transforming the second image to a 2D third image using a 2D Fourier transform; identifying at least one of a location and an intensity of a spectral peak in the 2D third image; and comparing at least one of the location and the intensity of the spectral peak in the 2D third image to at least one known coin property. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for discriminating coins, the method comprising:
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obtaining a first image of a coin; identifying an outline of the coin from the first image; generating a rectangular image from the first image by a log-polar mapping; performing a Fourier transform of the rectangular image to generate a 2D transformed image; and discriminating the coin by— identifying at least one of a location and an intensity of a spectral peak in the 2D transformed image, and comparing at least one of the location and the intensity of the spectral peak in the 2D transformed image to at least one known coin property. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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20. A consumer operated coin counting apparatus comprising:
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a coin input region configured to receive a plurality of coins; a digital camera configured to capture first images of individual coins; means for generating second images of the coins from the first images of the coins; means for generating 2D third images from the second images of the coins using a 2D Fourier transform; and means for discriminating the coins by— identifying at least one of a location and an intensity of a spectral peak in the 2D third images, and comparing at least one of the location and the intensity of the spectral peak in the 2D third images to at least one known coin property. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A non-transitory computer-readable medium whose contents cause a computer to discriminate coins, the coins being discriminated by a method comprising:
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receiving multiple coins; capturing a first image of a coin; generating a second image from the first image; generating a 2D third image from the second image using a 2D Fourier transform; and discriminating the coins by— identifying at least one of a location and an intensity of a spectral peak in the 2D third images, and comparing at least one of the location and the intensity of the spectral peak in the 2D third image to a known coin property. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29)
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30. A method performed by a computer having a computer code for identifying coins, the method comprising:
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obtaining a first image of a coin; generating a second image from the first image; transforming the second image to a 2D third image using at least one of a Z-transform or a wavelet transform; identifying at least one of a location and an intensity of a spectral peak in the 2D third image; and comparing at least one of the location and the intensity of the spectral peak in the 2D third image to at least one known coin property.
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31. A consumer operated coin counting apparatus comprising:
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a coin input region configured to receive a plurality of coins; a camera configured to capture first images of individual coins; and a computer having a non-transitory computer-readable medium whose contents cause the computer to discriminate the coins by— generating second images of the coins from the first images of the coins, generating 2D third images from the second images of the coins using at least one of a Z-transform or a wavelet transform, identifying at least one of a location and an intensity of a spectral peak in the 2D third images, and comparing at least one of the location and the intensity of the spectral peak in the 2D third images to at least one known coin property to discriminate the coins.
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Specification