[Korrelan]

the problem with your solution is that it is specific for that image but what if it's a dog in front of yellow autom leafs or a tanned girl in front of pink leafs

I know you are hoping to find one algorithm/ technique to handle all images but I think that’s going to be impossible.  Your system is going to have to adapt and use different filters/ pallets to extract information from an image.

Motion detection would probably help over several frames and background occlusion would also give a hint at the objects outline.

a possible solution to this is to process a smaller portion of the image.

Yes… you could process the image in blocks, or sub-sample the image down to a lower resolution to speed things up.  Perhaps reading the pixel information into an array just once and then performing operations on that might be faster; you could read every third pixel for example and achieve both at the same time.

For objects on a plain/ monochrome background this outline/ boundary technique will work up to a point.  Your main problem is that to define a boundary the system has to have an idea of the shape of the objects it’s looking for; it’s a top down/ bottom up process.  A object recognition system like has to learn to recognise objects as it learns to see the objects.

Using stereo depth perception from either two cameras, a prism/ mirror rig on one camera or a Kinect makes it much easier to define the outline of an object in a scene using the displacement map. The stereo displacement is directly proportional to the distance from the camera.  If this project is for a bot then you might as well start with a stereo system.

https://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~cs61c/fa14/projs/01/

You really need to consider ‘feature detection’ as an alternative method… but it seems like your enjoying your project and learning a lot as you go… which is all good.

Code

indian red,176,23,31
crimson,220,20,60
lightpink,255,182,193
lightpink 1,255,174,185
lightpink 2,238,162,173
lightpink 3,205,140,149
lightpink 4,139,95,101
pink,255,192,203
pink 1,255,181,197
pink 2,238,169,184
pink 3,205,145,158
pink 4,139,99,108
palevioletred,219,112,147
palevioletred 1,255,130,171
palevioletred 2,238,121,159
palevioletred 3,205,104,137
palevioletred 4,139,71,93
lavenderblush 1,255,240,245
lavenderblush 2,238,224,229
lavenderblush 3,205,193,197
lavenderblush 4,139,131,134
violetred 1,255,62,150
violetred 2,238,58,140
violetred 3,205,50,120
violetred 4,139,34,82
hotpink,255,105,180
hotpink 1,255,110,180
hotpink 2,238,106,167
hotpink 3,205,96,144
hotpink 4,139,58,98
raspberry,135,38,87
deeppink 1,255,20,147
deeppink 2,238,18,137
deeppink 3,205,16,118
deeppink 4,139,10,80
maroon 1,255,52,179
maroon 2,238,48,167
maroon 3,205,41,144
maroon 4,139,28,98
mediumvioletred,199,21,133
violetred,208,32,144
orchid,218,112,214
orchid 1,255,131,250
orchid 2,238,122,233
orchid 3,205,105,201
orchid 4,139,71,137
thistle,216,191,216
thistle 1,255,225,255
thistle 2,238,210,238
thistle 3,205,181,205
thistle 4,139,123,139
plum 1,255,187,255
plum 2,238,174,238
plum 3,205,150,205
plum 4,139,102,139
plum,221,160,221
violet,238,130,238
magenta (fuchsia*),255,0,255
magenta 2,238,0,238
magenta 3,205,0,205
magenta 4,139,0,139
purple*,128,0,128
mediumorchid,186,85,211
mediumorchid 1,224,102,255
mediumorchid 2,209,95,238
mediumorchid 3,180,82,205
mediumorchid 4,122,55,139
darkviolet,148,0,211
darkorchid,153,50,204
darkorchid 1,191,62,255
darkorchid 2,178,58,238
darkorchid 3,154,50,205
darkorchid 4,104,34,139
indigo,75,0,130
blueviolet,138,43,226
purple 1,155,48,255
purple 2,145,44,238
purple 3,125,38,205
purple 4,85,26,139
mediumpurple,147,112,219
mediumpurple 1,171,130,255
mediumpurple 2,159,121,238
mediumpurple 3,137,104,205
mediumpurple 4,93,71,139
darkslateblue,72,61,139
lightslateblue,132,112,255
mediumslateblue,123,104,238
slateblue,106,90,205
slateblue 1,131,111,255
slateblue 2,122,103,238
slateblue 3,105,89,205
slateblue 4,71,60,139
ghostwhite,248,248,255
lavender,230,230,250
blue*,0,0,255
blue 2,0,0,238
blue 3 (mediumblue),0,0,205
blue 4 (darkblue),0,0,139
navy*,0,0,128
midnightblue,25,25,112
cobalt,61,89,171
royalblue,65,105,225
royalblue 1,72,118,255
royalblue 2,67,110,238
royalblue 3,58,95,205
royalblue 4,39,64,139
cornflowerblue,100,149,237
lightsteelblue,176,196,222
lightsteelblue 1,202,225,255
lightsteelblue 2,188,210,238
lightsteelblue 3,162,181,205
lightsteelblue 4,110,123,139
lightslategray,119,136,153
slategray,112,128,144
slategray 1,198,226,255
slategray 2,185,211,238
slategray 3,159,182,205
slategray 4,108,123,139
dodgerblue 1,30,144,255
dodgerblue 2,28,134,238
dodgerblue 3,24,116,205
dodgerblue 4,16,78,139
aliceblue,240,248,255
steelblue,70,130,180
steelblue 1,99,184,255
steelblue 2,92,172,238
steelblue 3,79,148,205
steelblue 4,54,100,139
lightskyblue,135,206,250
lightskyblue 1,176,226,255
lightskyblue 2,164,211,238
lightskyblue 3,141,182,205
lightskyblue 4,96,123,139
skyblue 1,135,206,255
skyblue 2,126,192,238
skyblue 3,108,166,205
skyblue 4,74,112,139
skyblue,135,206,235
deepskyblue 1,0,191,255
deepskyblue 2,0,178,238
deepskyblue 3,0,154,205
deepskyblue 4,0,104,139
peacock,51,161,201
lightblue,173,216,230
lightblue 1,191,239,255
lightblue 2,178,223,238
lightblue 3,154,192,205
lightblue 4,104,131,139
powderblue,176,224,230
cadetblue 1,152,245,255
cadetblue 2,142,229,238
cadetblue 3,122,197,205
cadetblue 4,83,134,139
turquoise 1,0,245,255
turquoise 2,0,229,238
turquoise 3,0,197,205
turquoise 4,0,134,139
cadetblue,95,158,160
darkturquoise,0,206,209
azure 1 (azure),240,255,255
azure 2,224,238,238
azure 3,193,205,205
azure 4,131,139,139
lightcyan 1,224,255,255
lightcyan 2,209,238,238
lightcyan 3,180,205,205
lightcyan 4,122,139,139
paleturquoise 1,187,255,255
paleturquoise 2,174,238,238
paleturquoise 3,150,205,205
paleturquoise 4,102,139,139
darkslategray,47,79,79
darkslategray 1,151,255,255
darkslategray 2,141,238,238
darkslategray 3,121,205,205
darkslategray 4,82,139,139
cyan / aqua*,0,255,255
cyan 2,0,238,238
cyan 3,0,205,205
cyan 4 (darkcyan),0,139,139
teal*,0,128,128
mediumturquoise,72,209,204
lightseagreen,32,178,170
manganeseblue,3,168,158
turquoise,64,224,208
coldgrey,128,138,135
turquoiseblue,0,199,140
aquamarine 1,127,255,212
aquamarine 2,118,238,198
aquamarine 3,102,205,170
aquamarine 4,69,139,116
mediumspringgreen,0,250,154
mintcream,245,255,250
springgreen,0,255,127
springgreen 1,0,238,118
springgreen 2,0,205,102
springgreen 3,0,139,69
mediumseagreen,60,179,113
seagreen 1,84,255,159
seagreen 2,78,238,148
seagreen 3,67,205,128
seagreen 4,46,139,87
emeraldgreen,0,201,87
mint,189,252,201
cobaltgreen,61,145,64
honeydew 1,240,255,240
honeydew 2,224,238,224
honeydew 3,193,205,193
honeydew 4,131,139,131
darkseagreen,143,188,143
darkseagreen 1,193,255,193
darkseagreen 2,180,238,180
darkseagreen 3,155,205,155
darkseagreen 4,105,139,105
palegreen,152,251,152
palegreen 1,154,255,154
palegreen 2,144,238,144
palegreen 3,124,205,124
palegreen 4,84,139,84
limegreen,50,205,50
forestgreen,34,139,34
green 1 (lime*),0,255,0
green 2,0,238,0
green 3,0,205,0
green 4,0,139,0
green*,0,128,0
darkgreen,0,100,0
sapgreen,48,128,20
lawngreen,124,252,0
chartreuse 1,127,255,0
chartreuse 2,118,238,0
chartreuse 3,102,205,0
chartreuse 4,69,139,0
greenyellow,173,255,47
darkolivegreen 1,202,255,112
darkolivegreen 2,188,238,104
darkolivegreen 3,162,205,90
darkolivegreen 4,110,139,61
darkolivegreen,85,107,47
olivedrab,107,142,35
olivedrab 1,192,255,62
olivedrab 2,179,238,58
olivedrab 3,154,205,50
olivedrab 4,105,139,34
ivory 1 (ivory),255,255,240
ivory 2,238,238,224
ivory 3,205,205,193
ivory 4,139,139,131
beige,245,245,220
lightyellow 1,255,255,224
lightyellow 2,238,238,209
lightyellow 3,205,205,180
lightyellow 4,139,139,122
lightgoldenrodyellow,250,250,210
yellow 1 (yellow*),255,255,0
yellow 2,238,238,0
yellow 3,205,205,0
yellow 4,139,139,0
warmgrey,128,128,105
olive*,128,128,0
darkkhaki,189,183,107
khaki 1,255,246,143
khaki 2,238,230,133
khaki 3,205,198,115
khaki 4,139,134,78
khaki,240,230,140
palegoldenrod,238,232,170
lemonchiffon 1,255,250,205
lemonchiffon 2,238,233,191
lemonchiffon 3,205,201,165
lemonchiffon 4,139,137,112
lightgoldenrod 1,255,236,139
lightgoldenrod 2,238,220,130
lightgoldenrod 3,205,190,112
lightgoldenrod 4,139,129,76
banana,227,207,87
gold 1 (gold),255,215,0
gold 2,238,201,0
gold 3,205,173,0
gold 4,139,117,0
cornsilk 1 (cornsilk),255,248,220
cornsilk 2,238,232,205
cornsilk 3,205,200,177
cornsilk 4,139,136,120
goldenrod,218,165,32
goldenrod 1,255,193,37
goldenrod 2,238,180,34
goldenrod 3,205,155,29
goldenrod 4,139,105,20
darkgoldenrod,184,134,11
darkgoldenrod 1,255,185,15
darkgoldenrod 2,238,173,14
darkgoldenrod 3,205,149,12
darkgoldenrod 4,139,101,8
orange 1 (orange),255,165,0
orange 2,238,154,0
orange 3,205,133,0
orange 4,139,90,0
floralwhite,255,250,240
oldlace,253,245,230
wheat,245,222,179
wheat 1,255,231,186
wheat 2,238,216,174
wheat 3,205,186,150
wheat 4,139,126,102
moccasin,255,228,181
papayawhip,255,239,213
blanchedalmond,255,235,205
navajowhite 1,255,222,173
navajowhite 2,238,207,161
navajowhite 3,205,179,139
navajowhite 4,139,121,94
eggshell,252,230,201
tan,210,180,140
brick,156,102,31
cadmiumyellow,255,153,18
antiquewhite,250,235,215
antiquewhite 1,255,239,219
antiquewhite 2,238,223,204
antiquewhite 3,205,192,176
antiquewhite 4,139,131,120
burlywood,222,184,135
burlywood 1,255,211,155
burlywood 2,238,197,145
burlywood 3,205,170,125
burlywood 4,139,115,85
bisque 1 (bisque),255,228,196
bisque 2,238,213,183
bisque 3,205,183,158
bisque 4,139,125,107
melon,227,168,105
carrot,237,145,33
darkorange,255,140,0
darkorange 1,255,127,0
darkorange 2,238,118,0
darkorange 3,205,102,0
darkorange 4,139,69,0
orange,255,128,0
tan 1,255,165,79
tan 2,238,154,73
tan 3 (peru),205,133,63
tan 4,139,90,43
linen,250,240,230
peachpuff 1,255,218,185
peachpuff 2,238,203,173
peachpuff 3,205,175,149
peachpuff 4,139,119,101
seashell 1 (seashell),255,245,238
seashell 2,238,229,222
seashell 3,205,197,191
seashell 4,139,134,130
sandybrown,244,164,96
rawsienna,199,97,20
chocolate,210,105,30
chocolate 1,255,127,36
chocolate 2,238,118,33
chocolate 3,205,102,29
chocolate 4,139,69,19
ivoryblack,41,36,33
flesh,255,125,64
cadmiumorange,255,97,3
burntsienna,138,54,15
sienna,160,82,45
sienna 1,255,130,71
sienna 2,238,121,66
sienna 3,205,104,57
sienna 4,139,71,38
lightsalmon 1,255,160,122
lightsalmon 2,238,149,114
lightsalmon 3,205,129,98
lightsalmon 4,139,87,66
coral,255,127,80
orangered 1,255,69,0
orangered 2,238,64,0
orangered 3,205,55,0
orangered 4,139,37,0
sepia,94,38,18
darksalmon,233,150,122
salmon 1,255,140,105
salmon 2,238,130,98
salmon 3,205,112,84
salmon 4,139,76,57
coral 1,255,114,86
coral 2,238,106,80
coral 3,205,91,69
coral 4,139,62,47
burntumber,138,51,36
tomato 1 (tomato),255,99,71
tomato 2,238,92,66
tomato 3,205,79,57
tomato 4,139,54,38
salmon,250,128,114
mistyrose 1,255,228,225
mistyrose 2,238,213,210
mistyrose 3,205,183,181
mistyrose 4,139,125,123
snow 1 (snow),255,250,250
snow 2,238,233,233
snow 3,205,201,201
snow 4,139,137,137
rosybrown,188,143,143
rosybrown 1,255,193,193
rosybrown 2,238,180,180
rosybrown 3,205,155,155
rosybrown 4,139,105,105
lightcoral,240,128,128
indianred,205,92,92
indianred 1,255,106,106
indianred 2,238,99,99
indianred 4,139,58,58
indianred 3,205,85,85
brown,165,42,42
brown 1,255,64,64
brown 2,238,59,59
brown 3,205,51,51
brown 4,139,35,35
firebrick,178,34,34
firebrick 1,255,48,48
firebrick 2,238,44,44
firebrick 3,205,38,38
firebrick 4,139,26,26
red 1 (red*),255,0,0
red 2,238,0,0
red 3,205,0,0
red 4 (darkred),139,0,0
maroon*,128,0,0
sgi beet,142,56,142
sgi slateblue,113,113,198
sgi lightblue,125,158,192
sgi teal,56,142,142
sgi chartreuse,113,198,113
sgi olivedrab,142,142,56
sgi brightgray,197,193,170
sgi salmon,198,113,113
sgi darkgray,85,85,85
sgi gray 12,30,30,30
sgi gray 16,40,40,40
sgi gray 32,81,81,81
sgi gray 36,91,91,91
sgi gray 52,132,132,132
sgi gray 56,142,142,142
sgi lightgray,170,170,170
sgi gray 72,183,183,183
sgi gray 76,193,193,193
sgi gray 92,234,234,234
sgi gray 96,244,244,244
white*,255,255,255
white smoke,245,245,245
gainsboro,220,220,220
lightgrey,211,211,211
silver*,192,192,192
darkgray,169,169,169
gray*,128,128,128
dimgray (gray 42),105,105,105
black*,0,0,0
gray 99,252,252,252
gray 98,250,250,250
gray 97,247,247,247
white smoke,245,245,245
gray 95,242,242,242
gray 94,240,240,240
gray 93,237,237,237
gray 92,235,235,235
gray 91,232,232,232
gray 90,229,229,229
gray 89,227,227,227
gray 88,224,224,224
gray 87,222,222,222
gray 86,219,219,219
gray 85,217,217,217
gray 84,214,214,214
gray 83,212,212,212
gray 82,209,209,209
gray 81,207,207,207
gray 80,204,204,204
gray 79,201,201,201
gray 78,199,199,199
gray 77,196,196,196
gray 76,194,194,194
gray 75,191,191,191
gray 74,189,189,189
gray 73,186,186,186
gray 72,184,184,184
gray 71,181,181,181
gray 70,179,179,179
gray 69,176,176,176
gray 68,173,173,173
gray 67,171,171,171
gray 66,168,168,168
gray 65,166,166,166
gray 64,163,163,163
gray 63,161,161,161
gray 62,158,158,158
gray 61,156,156,156
gray 60,153,153,153
gray 59,150,150,150
gray 58,148,148,148
gray 57,145,145,145
gray 56,143,143,143
gray 55,140,140,140
gray 54,138,138,138
gray 53,135,135,135
gray 52,133,133,133
gray 51,130,130,130
gray 50,127,127,127
gray 49,125,125,125
gray 48,122,122,122
gray 47,120,120,120
gray 46,117,117,117
gray 45,115,115,115
gray 44,112,112,112
gray 43,110,110,110
gray 42,107,107,107
dimgray (gray 42),105,105,105
gray 40,102,102,102
gray 39,99,99,99
gray 38,97,97,97
gray 37,94,94,94
gray 36,92,92,92
gray 35,89,89,89
gray 34,87,87,87
gray 33,84,84,84
gray 32,82,82,82
gray 31,79,79,79
gray 30,77,77,77
gray 29,74,74,74
gray 28,71,71,71
gray 27,69,69,69
gray 26,66,66,66
gray 25,64,64,64
gray 24,61,61,61
gray 23,59,59,59
gray 22,56,56,56
gray 21,54,54,54
gray 20,51,51,51
gray 19,48,48,48
gray 18,46,46,46
gray 17,43,43,43
gray 16,41,41,41
gray 15,38,38,38
gray 14,36,36,36
gray 13,33,33,33
gray 12,31,31,31
gray 11,28,28,28
gray 10,26,26,26
gray 9,23,23,23
gray 8,20,20,20
gray 7,18,18,18
gray 6,15,15,15
gray 5,13,13,13
gray 4,10,10,10
gray 3,8,8,8
gray 2,5,5,5
gray 1,3,3,3

 

[keghn]

 For myself, I like to change the image and put it into a descriptor table. Of chain codes colors of outline,  absolute position,
relative position, features in the outline, distances of feature to each other in a outline, and relationship of similarity of between
features in a outline, color inside a outline, complete outline length, and length of feature. Then get rid of picture and bring it into existence when needed.


 Or, if you are interested  in staying with images, all the time during the process, then down sample the
image to a really small size where you can barely tell the difference between
one image from  another other. Then  deal with a reduced amount of information. Then
expand back to full size when you need to focus on a detail that you are interested in.

 The simplest would find the dead center of all outlines and just tack them moving around and expand them when needed.

 Or use many thread programing?
 Or use GPU's?

 In chain code, reducing the information is about taking out the bumps in the outline, also known as features in a
outline. In a way that will morph into completely smooth circle. After a certain amounts of iterations.

 The detached head in the early wheel chair picture is already there. It is a circle right now. But the body will take a few hundred rations with a FFT filter like algorithm to rid it of its features, and also any noise. And thus turn in to a circle that is bigger then the head.
 The distance to the centers of the two circles of the body and the head will still be there, untouched by the algorithm.

 I see now that the head is connected in the  wheelchair picture.


 All of his is something to think about.

[Korrelan]

 

[yotamarker]

enjoying this ? no, ideally someone else would solve it and I would DL a book and read about it and
buy the product for a reasonable price.

in my specific case I can't let go of a puzzle.

[keghn]

 I am enjoying it. Also i very sorry for bruising our brain. No need to rush this. May be you should take it easy for few
days? I do not want your brain become too knotted. That will bad in the long run.

[Korrelan]

Messing around with different object perimeter techniques. This method would obviously have a problem 'seeing' around corners lol. Going to try a matrix with a perimeter trace next.

 

[yotamarker]

how does it work ?

[Korrelan]

Similar in principal to a radar.

Points are defined along a line moving from the centre to the radius of the circle; the line of points is rotated counter clockwise until the complete circumference is covered.  If a major colour change is detected between the centre and the point being checked along the line then it's noted.  So each line of points moving from the centre to the radius will have a point where it crosses into a completely new colour (within a bias range). These points are then joined with a banded/ poly line that joins all the points around the colour boundary together.

 

[Korrelan]

I tried several methods of tracing an outline but they all had their limitations.

I like a distraction and a problem to be solved; it needs to be accurate, fast and efficient…

Time to apply a bit of machine learning… I wrote a simple pixel bot.

First I extract a matrix of pixels around the mouse pointer and load them into an array.  Then I ‘posterise’ the pallet of the selected pixels to limit/ blend the number of colours. Next I mark all pixels with a similar colour (within bias range) to the pixel I clicked with the colour blue to make them obvious to me. So any pixels that are similar to the one I click on are now coloured blue.

The bot has a centre from which the outline is drawn and is surrounded by its eight surrounding pixels which are it’s sensors/ eyes.  Each surrounding pixel has a binary value 1,2,4,8,16,32,64,128 which can be simply added together to give a single number that represents the pixel pattern around the bot.  Each of the 255 sensor combinations is mapped to an array along with the +/- x,y directions it should move when it ‘sees’ that pattern.  I can give the bot the relevant direction by pressing the number pad for the eight directions.  The bots sensors pick up on the colour blue.
 
This vid shows me ‘teaching’ the software to follow a perimeter. The bot is the red dot; at the start the bot is on the right boarder of the square.  This is because it was sensing 255 which means it was totally surrounded by blue.  I pressed ‘right’ so the bot move to the right until it hit the boundary; this is where the vid begins.

I then press ‘down’ and it moves down; it now knows when ever it sees the pattern for a vertical line to its right to move down; the rest of the vid is just me teaching the bot which direction to move depending on what it’s sensing around it.  As you will see it quickly improves as it learns.  Toward the end it has no problem following complex outlines using the information it’s learned.



Because the outline is mapped into the array I can easily change the scale, get the boundaries/ vectors and center of the shape.

 

[yotamarker]

I gave it some thought, (it's not like I can think about anything other than A.I anyways) and that girl
she could be wearing camouflage so motion detection is the best bet. the colors can help for faster recognition.
by the way, what programming environment are you using ?

[keghn]

@korrelan program mostly in BASIC?
I program in C++ or C and BASH. All on a Linux operating system.
I am developing my audio softwar for the rest of this year and will be moving to develop my vision software next.
  Cheers

[Korrelan]

@Yot & Keghn

Yeah! I tend to prototype in VB6/ API; not to be confused with VB.NET which is much too slow for this kind of work.  I write in C++ and compile as DLL’s when I need the extra speed boost; though VB6 has a native compiler and is just as fast for most purposes.

I can code in several languages but I find VB6/ API is a very quick language to develop with; if I have an idea I can have it coded and working in an hour or so.

Use the right tool for the job… lol.

 

Good luck with the audio/ vision software.

[yotamarker]

wow those are some mad skills, what do you do if you want to make a mobil app ?

[Korrelan]

I've never had to produce a mobile app; but I would probably use HTML5 or Java.

 

[yotamarker]

I accidently found out something amazing.