JPH023230B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to an image processing device that inputs, processes, and stores images at high speed.

[Technical background of the invention]

For example, as shown in FIG. 1, a conventional image processing device inputs an image signal from an image input device 1 such as a television camera, and converts the signal into A/D using an A/D (analog-digital) converter 2. The obtained digital signal is given to a main processing unit 3 using a computer, for example. The main processing device 3 stores the digital signal in the image storage section 4 and outputs the digital signal to the image processing section 5.
Analyze and process the schedule.

In such an image processing device, for example, one screen has 512×512 pixels (one pixel is represented by multivalued data consisting of binary numbers such as 4 bits and 8 bits).
This data means the gradation of each pixel). Input grayscale images consisting of in real time, analyze and process them,
Furthermore, when the processing results are used as machine control information, there are problems as described below.

[Problems with background technology]

(b) The amount of data on one screen consisting of 512 x 512 pixels, etc. is enormous. Therefore, it takes a lot of time to analyze and process one screen, and it is difficult to perform sufficient processing in real time.

(b) In order to input image information in real time, data must be processed at, for example, 30 screens per second. However, the screens that really require image processing by the image processing device are not all the screens that are input to the device, but are often the screens in which the desired object appears on the screen. In this case, in the conventional image processing apparatus, the image processing section 5 has to determine for each screen whether or not the object appears on the screen, which places a heavy load on the image processing section 5.

(c) When analyzing images, there was a problem in that the content of the analysis and processing became complicated, which had a large impact on the processing time.

Because of these problems, when using an image processing device as a device that processes in real time, it is necessary to thin out the image data to the extent that it can be processed, rather than processing all input screens, or to reduce processing performance. For example, it can be processed using a simple analysis procedure.
There was no other suitable method other than using it under very limited conditions.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention simplifies the image analysis/processing content in the main processing unit, significantly shortens the image analysis/processing time,
It is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing device that is sufficiently capable of real-time processing and has high reliability.

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention includes an image input device that inputs an image signal in units of screens, an A/D converter that converts the image signal input by the image input device into a digital signal, and a digital signal input from the A/D converter. A main processing device consisting of an image storage section that temporarily holds image signals and an image processing section that performs predetermined analysis and processing on the image signals held in this image storage section; A predetermined specific gradation range in the screen including this output is discriminated, and the discrimination information is sent to the main processing unit to the A/D.
It is equipped with a preprocessing section that outputs a signal permission signal when a signal is input from the converter.

[Embodiments of the invention]

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 2, an image input device 1 consisting of an image sensor, etc., an A/D converter 2, a main processing device 3 that analyzes and processes images using a computer, etc., and an image storage section 4 constituting the main processing device 3. The image processing section is generally the same as that shown in FIG. Reference numeral 6 denotes a preprocessing device which is a feature of the present invention, in which digital image signals are input from the A/D converter 2, and information useful for analyzing and processing the image in the main processing device 3, such as information on the object. whether it exists or not
Information such as the position of the object and analysis parameters is extracted and a signal containing this information is given to the main processing device 3 as an input permission signal when inputting the signal from the A/D converter 2.

Next, the operation in such a configuration will be explained.

First, the image input device 1 inputs a target image, the A/D converter 2 converts the image into a digital signal, and this signal is sent to the main processing device 3 and the preprocessing device 6.
is input. The main processing device 3 stores all or a preset part of this image digital signal in the image storage section 4. During this time, the preprocessing device 6 extracts information useful for the main processing device 3 to analyze and process the image (the type of this information is set in advance) from the image digital signal, and further uses that information for the main processing. to device 3. The image processing section 5 analyzes and processes the image data stored in the image storage section 4 based on information obtained from the preprocessing device 6.

Here, the object is assumed to be, for example, a white bar-shaped object with black letters drawn on a part of its outer circumferential surface. If the background is black, the image obtained from the image input device 1 will be as shown in FIG. In Figure 3, A is a white bar, B is a black letter, and C is a black background.

Now, when the main processing unit 3 attempts to analyze and process the black character B, the background C is unnecessary image data that is unrelated to the analysis and processing. Therefore, in the preprocessing device 6, a sampling line D is set horizontally on the field of view of the image input device 1, and when the image signal on this sampling line D is obtained through the A/D converter 2, the data is temporarily Remember. Fourth
The figure shows an example of this stored data. In Figure 4, the vertical axis is the density gradation corresponding to the brightness of the image,
The horizontal axis is the horizontal position on the field of view. E is a portion corresponding to background C, and F is a portion corresponding to white bar A. If a certain density value R is taken as a standard from this data, white bar A will be displayed depending on whether or not it exceeds this standard.
Information corresponding to the positions P ₁ and P ₂ can be obtained. The preprocessing device 6 then provides data on these positions P ₁ and P ₂ to the main processing device 3. The main processing unit 3 can thereby know the position of the white bar A, and can select the image data of the white bar A portion from the screen while distinguishing it from the image data of the unnecessary background C portion. becomes. In other words, it is no longer necessary to analyze and process an entire screen (full screen), and processing time can be shortened. Also, if the black character B is at a certain distance from the side edge of stick A, the position of white stick A is P ₁ ,
The position of the character B can be calculated from the information of _P2 , which is extremely effective for analyzing and processing images.

Further, when the white bar A as the object is moving, the object is not always visible in the field of view of the image input device 1. For example, when an image processing device is applied to an inspection line in a factory to check products, the object is continuously transferred to the image input device 1 at appropriate intervals.
comes into view. In such a case, it would be very wasteful if the main processing unit 3 analyzes and processes each screen. Therefore, the pre-processing device 6 constantly determines whether the object is visible or not, and the result is sent to the main processing device 3.
If the image is sent to the main processing unit 3, the main processing unit 3 only needs to analyze and process the screen on which the object is visible, which frees up the processing time and makes the content of the image analysis and processing very simple.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings, but can be implemented with various modifications without changing the gist thereof.

For example, a plurality of sampling lines may be set vertically on the screen, or information useful to the main processing device may be extracted by a preprocessing device using calculations and processing other than those described above.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, it is possible to significantly shorten the time for analyzing and processing image data, simplify the analysis and processing contents of the main processing unit, and provide a highly reliable image processing device that can realize advanced processing in real time. can be provided.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional image processing device, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a processed image in the same embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of image data on the sampling line in the same embodiment. 1... Image input device, 2... A/D (analog-digital) converter, 3... Main processing unit, 4...
...image storage unit, 5...image processing unit, 6...preprocessing device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An image input device that inputs an image signal for each screen, an A/D converter that converts the image signal input by the image input device into a digital signal, and a digital image signal input from the A/D converter. a main processing unit consisting of an image storage section that temporarily stores the image signal, and an image processing section that performs predetermined analysis and processing on the image signal stored in the image storage section; and a pre-processing unit that discriminates a predetermined specific gradation range in a screen including a predetermined gradation range and outputs the discrimination information as an input permission signal when inputting a signal from the A/D converter to the main processing unit. An image processing device characterized by: