JP3447716B2 - Image processing device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus in a visual device used for position control and inspection of a robot or an industrial machine, and more particularly to a template image processing method in a template matching method. It is about generation. 2. Description of the Related Art Before starting a specific description of a conventional image processing apparatus, a basic template matching method will be described first. In the template matching method (Template Matching = TM method), teaching-by-showing, that is, the object can be automatically re-recognized simply by registering the image of the object without setting a program for each object Such a function is a feature of the method, and a user who has no knowledge of image processing can easily use the function easily. In addition, as a recent demand for image processing apparatuses in the field of factory automation (hereinafter referred to as FA), it is required to perform complicated inspection and positioning at high speed and with high accuracy which cannot be dealt with only by binarization processing. There is great expectation for gray-scale template matching that performs positioning based on cross-correlation coefficients. However, gray-scale template matching has heretofore been impossible to implement without dedicated hardware due to its enormous amount of calculation. For this reason, the image processing apparatus has become expensive and has been an obstacle to market development. Next, an outline of the density template matching process will be described with reference to FIG. In the gray-scale template matching _, the correlation value M _x, between the template image G _{i, j} and the search image F _{i, j} is shifted while sequentially shifting the local area S _{x, y} having the same size as the template starting from the position (x, y) _{. y} is calculated and the position (x,
y) is output as the position where the template is found. The correlation value M _{x, y} is given by the following equation (1). [0004] In the above equation (1), F and G are the average values of the brightness of the image in the local area of the search image or the template image, and n is the number of pixels included in the local area _{Sx, y} . Further, as can be seen from the fact that the expression (1) includes a term representing the luminance variance of the image on the denominator side, the correlation value M _{x, y} is represented by a linear variation F of the brightness of the image. It can be seen that ' _{i, j} = F _{i, j} × k1 + k2' is not affected at all. Therefore, the contrast between the template image and the inspection image is changed by using the gray-scale template matching, and the margin for the change in brightness of the entire image and noise is large. However, such gray-scale template matching takes a long time to calculate a correlation value, and when a high speed is required, such as in the FA field, it cannot be practically coped with due to time limitations. For example, when searching for a 128 × 128 template image in a 512 × 512 inspection image, the product-sum operation of the number of times according to the following equation (2) is required.
This requires a calculation time of 0 second or more. 128 × 128 × (512-128) × (512-128) = 2.4 × 10 ⁹ (2) On the other hand, as a well-known high-speed technique, coarse search is performed. There was a law. In the coarse search method, as shown in FIG. 6, an original image is reduced to 1/4 or 1 /
In this method, an image (coarse image) degenerated to 8 is created, a rough image is searched for a template image, and an approximate position of the rough image is searched for in the original image to obtain an accurate position. The amount of calculation required to obtain the same result as the previous example by this method can be the number of times given by the following equation (3), provided that the ratio of coarse / fine search is 1: N. [0009] [0010] When N is changed in this manner, there is an optimum coarse / fine ratio as shown in FIG. 7.
0.1 which is set as a standard for practical use in the FA line
To achieve recognition within seconds, a time reduction of several hundred times must still be achieved. As described above, the conventional template matching method using the coarse / fine search has a problem that the processing speed is slow and impractical. Several techniques have been developed for such template matching techniques. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a conventional partial template matching method disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-642, for example. In the figure, reference numeral 11 denotes a circuit element forming region of a semiconductor pellet to be subjected to pattern position detection, and 12 denotes connection pads regularly arranged on two sides thereof. Reference numerals 13a and 13b denote pattern search areas (target patterns) searched for pattern position detection. In this case, a template that matches each of the target patterns is provided, and a true peak is to be detected using the positional relationship taught in advance. In this case, even if a plurality of patterns having the same characteristics are arranged at regular intervals by dividing the template to be targeted into parts and performing template matching with the pattern search areas 13a and 13b in each part,
The target pattern can be identified. In addition, since the target pattern can be imaged by being divided into portions, the resolution can be increased. However, in this method, the user has to determine which part should be used as a template, and know-how is required. On the other hand, as a method for self-evaluating a template, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-74082 proposes the following method. Next, this will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 14 denotes an image pickup means for picking up an image of a detection target; 15, a binarization circuit for binarizing imaged image data;
An image memory 17 for storing the digitized image data. A matching circuit 17 includes a shift memory 18, a parallel cutout register 19, a standard pattern register 20, and a pattern matching circuit 21, and matches a partial pattern cut out from the image data with a standard pattern. , 22 is a minimum value detection circuit for detecting the minimum value of the output of the pattern matching circuit 21, 23 is an area limiting circuit, 24 is a timing generation circuit that gives them a predetermined timing, and 25 is a computer that performs overall control of the system. is there. In this method, a partial pattern having a size of a standard pattern to be obtained is cut out from an image of a detection target imaged by the image pickup means 14 and is set as a standard pattern candidate.
An operation is performed to obtain an evaluation value indicating suitability as a standard pattern from the sequentially extracted partial pattern or the partial pattern and the image to be detected, and determine the standard pattern based on the value. As described above, according to this method, a standard pattern suitable for pattern matching can be automatically selected from within a screen, so that user know-how is not required. However, in this method, in order to select a template from the input image, the user must determine the size of the template in advance, and the self-evaluation is performed to automatically register the optimal template. Even if it does, it cannot be evaluated whether the optimal size is selected. In this method, the entire input image must be sequentially cut out as template candidates and evaluated for each template, which takes time. When performing recognition using many template matchings, the object that the user wants to recognize is often self-explanatory, but the user's knowledge cannot be used, and the template is determined only by the evaluation value, which is unnecessary. However, there is a problem that it takes a lot of time to perform various processes, and it is difficult to reflect the intention of the user. Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-359388 proposes the following system. Next, this will be described with reference to FIG. This apparatus includes a search image storage device 26 for storing a search image, a template image storage device 27 for storing a template image, a 0-value data processing circuit 28 for processing 0 values of both images, and a ratio of both image values. The divider 29 to be obtained, a calculated value storage device 30 for storing the calculated value of the divider 29, and the absolute value of the difference between the output value of the divider 29 and the stored value of the counted value storage device 30 is obtained. An absolute value calculating circuit 31, an adding circuit 32 for adding the absolute value obtained this time to the absolute value obtained last time, a threshold value storing circuit 33 for storing the threshold value, and comparing the added value by the adding circuit 32 with the threshold value And a comparison circuit 34. According to this method, the sequential sequential test method (Sequential Sim
ilality Detection Algorit
hm = SSDA method) is modified so that it can be achieved even if there is a difference in brightness between images. Therefore, there is no restriction on the brightness of the surroundings at the time of acquiring an image, and the present invention can be used for an application in a situation where the environment constantly changes. Although this method can cope with a change in the width of the contrast of the brightness of the entire input image, when the brightness of the entire image is shifted up or down, the ratio of the two images is reduced. Cannot be handled because it changes depending on the position of the template. Further, threshold processing is performed, and know-how is required to determine the threshold. Further, as a method of obtaining the accuracy of the sub-pixel, the following method is proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 5-120436. Next, this will be described with reference to FIG. This method calculates the correlation value between the detected image and the template image while shifting the pixel position in pixel units, searches for the pixel position where the correlation value becomes the maximum (first stage), and determines the position of the eight neighboring pixels. A correlation value is obtained (second step), a multivariable polynomial regression surface is determined from these coordinates and the correlation value (third step), and a subpixel-accurate peak is detected from the peak of the surface (fourth step). It is. According to this method, since an estimated peak position that is continuous with a change in the peak position can be obtained with high accuracy from the multivariable polynomial regression surface, the position can be detected with sub-pixel accuracy beyond the pixel unit. However, in this method, the correlation values of all 9 points near the center and 8 must be calculated first, which takes a long processing time. Also, in this method, it is assumed that the relationship between the XY plane and the correlation value forms a quadratic surface, but the shape of the actual correlation value and the vicinity thereof draw a sharper peak than the quadratic surface. Therefore, a peak cannot be accurately obtained by approximation of a quadratic surface. Since the conventional image processing apparatus is configured as described above, it takes a lot of time to calculate a correlation value in ordinary gray-scale template matching, which is not practical. Even with template matching by coarse-grained search, the reduction of processing time cannot be said to be sufficient, and in fields requiring high-speed processing such as FA, it is not possible to respond practically due to time constraints. In the case of the matching method, the user needs know-how to determine which part is used as the template. In the method of performing self-evaluation of the template, the template is determined only by the evaluation value.
SSDs do not take advantage of the user's knowledge, take a lot of time for unnecessary processing, and hardly reflect the user's intention.
The method A cannot cope with the shift up or down of the brightness of the entire image, and has a problem that know-how is required to determine a threshold for threshold processing. The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and has as its object to provide an image processing apparatus which does not require special know-how and can reduce the processing time without reducing the recognition accuracy. I do. An image processing apparatus according to the present invention is an image processing apparatus for performing recognition by a template matching method using template data prepared in advance. Whether the object exists by comparing the correlation value obtained by the correlation operation unit with the correlation value obtained by the correlation operation unit with the circle template image having the diameter of the width of the circumscribed rectangle constituting the object and the threshold value And a correlation value determination unit for determining whether or not there is no correlation. Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described. Embodiment 1 FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an image processing apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 80 denotes an original image input from the image input unit, 105 denotes a circular template image having a rectangular width having a diameter, and 106 denotes a circular template image.
Is the input original image 80 and the circle template image 10
This is a correlation operation unit for obtaining a correlation value with the number 5. Reference numeral 107 denotes a correlation value determination unit that compares the correlation value obtained by the correlation operation unit 106 with a threshold value to determine whether an object exists or not, and 108 displays the determination result. It is a result display section. Next, the operation will be described. Here, FIG.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing of the image processing apparatus according to the first embodiment, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the image processing process of the image processing apparatus according to the first embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram schematically illustrating a process of image processing using an image. According to the first embodiment, in an image processing apparatus in which the posture of an object is unknown and the shape of the object includes an elongated rectangle or a shape including a corner, the width of the rectangle is reduced to the diameter. Find the correlation value between the circle template image and the search image
It recognizes the presence of the object. A circle template image 105 corresponding to the size of the object is generated in advance. In the method of generating the circle template image 105, first, the size of the tip of the object is measured, and a circle image whose size becomes a diameter is generated. In the case of a ternary image, when the user specifies a diameter (or radius), a circle of the ternary image corresponding to the size can be automatically formed. This can be done by processing the image of the object, or by designating image values one by one with a drawing tool. Next, recognition of the presence of an object using such a circle template image 105 will be described. The image captured by the image input unit is input (step ST171),
A correlation value between the input coordinates of the original image 80 and the circle template image 105 is calculated by the correlation operation unit 106 (step ST172). Correlation value determination section 107 compares the correlation value calculated by correlation operation section 106 with a predetermined threshold value (step ST173), and records a position larger than the threshold value as a position where the object exists (step S173).
T174). Note that data at a position where the correlation value is smaller than the threshold is discarded without being used. When the processing for X and Y is completed, the result is displayed on result display section 108 (step ST175). As described above, according to the present invention, since the correlation value between the circle template image having the diameter of the rectangle and the search image and the search image is obtained, the approximate position and posture are determined in advance. This makes it possible to perform position detection without knowing the information, shorten the processing time, and save resources by eliminating the need to prepare a template image for each rotation angle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an image processing device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing of the image processing apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram conceptually showing an image processing process of the image processing apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram conceptually showing a process of image processing using a ternary image. FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing a conventional basic template matching method. FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram showing a conventional coarse / fine search method. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a speed-up effect by a conventional coarse / fine search. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a template matching method by a conventional image processing apparatus. FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram illustrating another conventional image processing apparatus. FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram showing still another conventional image processing apparatus. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a method for obtaining pixel accuracy in still another conventional image processing apparatus. [Description of Signs] 80 Original Image, 105 Circle Template Image, 106
Correlation calculation unit, 107 correlation value determination unit, 108 result display unit.

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-60-229180 (JP, A) JP-A-5-73678 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06T 7/00-7/60 G06T 1/00 G01B 11/00-11/30 G01N 21/84-21/958 H04N 7/18

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims 1] In an image processing apparatus for performing recognition by a template matching method using template data prepared in advance, an input original image and a circumscribed rectangle forming a recognition target are formed. A correlation operation unit for obtaining a correlation value with a circle template image having a width of a diameter, and comparing the correlation value obtained by the correlation operation unit with a threshold value to determine whether an object exists. An image processing apparatus comprising: a correlation value determination unit.