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 an image of a coin;
generating a rectangular image from the image of the coin;
based on the rectangular image of the coin, generating a 2D image of spectral features of the coin using a 2D spectral transform;
identifying an intensity of one of the spectral features; and
comparing the intensity of one of the spectral features to at least one known coin property.
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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
29 Claims
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1. A method for identifying coins, the method comprising:
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obtaining an image of a coin; generating a rectangular image from the image of the coin; based on the rectangular image of the coin, generating a 2D image of spectral features of the coin using a 2D spectral transform; identifying an intensity of one of the spectral features; and comparing the intensity of one of the spectral features to at least one known coin property. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for discriminating coins, the method comprising:
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obtaining an image of a coin; identifying an outline of the coin from the image of the coin; generating a rectangular image from the image of the coin by a log-polar mapping; performing a 2D spectral transform of the rectangular image to generate a 2D image of spectral features; and discriminating the coin by; identifying at least one of a location and an intensity of the spectral peak in the 2D image of spectral features, and comparing at least one of the location and the intensity of the spectral peak in the 2D image of spectral features to at least one known coin property. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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21. 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 images of individual coins; means for generating 2D spectral images based on the images of the coins using a 2D spectral 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 spectral images, and comparing at least one of the location and the intensity of the spectral peak in the 2D spectral images to at least one known coin property. - View Dependent Claims (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 an image of a coin; generating a 2D spectral image based on the image of the coin; and discriminating the coins by; identifying at least one of a location and an intensity of a spectral peak in the 2D spectral image, and comparing at least one of the location and the intensity of the spectral peak to a known coin property. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29)
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Specification