EP0322314A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Vision system
Assignee: University of Western Australia
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Filing: 1988-12-21
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2008-12-21
Abstract
Abstract A system for estimating the size and/or shape and/or position of an object such as a sheep mounted on a restraining means comprising a pair of video cameras and adjacent light sources, a multiplicity of elements of highly directional retro-reflective material attached to predetermined portions of said restraining means, a video digitizer board for digitizing the image received by each of said video cameras, an associated computer for storing the digitized image, said computer being programmed to search the stored digitized image to locate the bright spots created by said retro-reflective markers, following which the digitized image is search to locate changes in intensity in the image indicating the location of the edges of the sheep.
Inventors
- 👤 Peter Dominic Depart. Of Mechanical Eng. Kovesi
- 👤 Jan Depart. Of Mechanical Engineering Baranski
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-06 15:00
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01B; G01B11/00; G01B11/02; G01B11/024; G01B11/24
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim
117 words
A system for estimating the size and/or shape and/or position of an object comprising at least a first optical system positioned to be aimed at the object from a predetermined direction so as to receive an image of the object from that direction, means for locating one or more bright spots at predetermined positions on or adjacent said object, means for digitizing the image received by said optical system into a predetermined array of intensity values across the image, means for storing the digitized image, and means for searching the stored digitized image to locate said bright spot(s) and then to locate changes in intensity in the image indicating the location of the edges of the object.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
117 words
A system for estimating the size and/or shape and/or position of an object comprising at least a first optical system positioned to be aimed at the object from a predetermined direction so as to receive an image of the object from that direction, means for locating one or more bright spots at predetermined positions on or adjacent said object, means for digitizing the image received by said optical system into a predetermined array of intensity values across the image, means for storing the digitized image, and means for searching the stored digitized image to locate said bright spot(s) and then to locate changes in intensity in the image indicating the location of the edges of the object.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
22 words
The system of claim 1, further comprising a second optical system positioned to receive an image of said object from another direction.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
39 words
The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein said bright spots are produced by elements of highly directional retro-reflective material positioned on or near the object in combination with a light source positioned adjacent the or each optical system.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
24 words
The system of claim 3, wherein said light source and said optical system are positioned within a cone of the order of one degree.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
60 words
The system of claim 1, wherein said means for searching the stored digitized image includes means for scanning through a particular region of the digitized image for pixels belonging to a bright spot, means for summing the image coordinates of each pixel so located, means of averaging the summation to provide the coordinates of the centroid of said bright spot.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
53 words
The system of claim 5, wherein pixels belonging to a bright spot are detected by means for determining whether the light energy threshold of a particular pixel exceeds a predetermined threshold which lies at a level just below the saturation level of the optical system to thereby avoid sensitivity to ambient lighting conditions.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
29 words
The system of claim 6, wherein the or each optical system includes a video camera and said threshold is set just below the saturation level of said video camera.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
64 words
The system of claim 1, wherein said means for locating changes in intensity in the image indicating the location of edges of the object comprises means for locating a step change in the intensity of the digitized image, means for filtering the intensity signal in this region, and means for convolving the filtered signal to produce a peak identifying an edge of the object.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
61 words
The system of claim 1, wherein said means for digitizing the image received by said optical system comprises a video digitizer board connected to a suitable computer, said video digitizer board having associated software which performs the required searching for bright spots and the location of changes in intensity in the image indicating the location of an edge of the object.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
21 words
The system of claim 1, wherein said bright spots are attached to means for restraining a sheep in a predetermined position.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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