The Shape Matching module provides a way to match a binary image to a
known database of images. The module is used to recognize shapes
and provides statistical relationships between the currently viewed
object and that stored in the image database. Note that the shape matching
is based on actual image shape and NOT on direct pixel matching as done
in image template matching. In this way the matches are invariant to shape translation, size
1. Press the 'Train' button to create a new image database. This will
popup the training dialog.
2. Click on '...' to select the folder where the images you would
like to train on are. NOTE: the shape matching only works on
binary black and white images with the object being in white and the background
3. Select 'Start' to start training. If you would like training to happen automatically whenever a file is
added, updated or deleted from the specified folder select the 'Monitor Folder' checkbox.
4. After training click on OK and begin viewing which
images match the current image.
5. Click on OK to remove the matching dialog. This window
can be viewed again at any time by 'editing' the module again.
6. Depending on your matches you may want to filter out specific objects. In order
to get a sense of what you can use to filter out objects click on the Display checkboxes which
will show the match information about each object in the main RoboRealm image window.
- Confidence - how well the shape matches those in the database. Note that this refers
to the best available match in the database of trained shapes.
- Orientation - how the shape would have to be rotated to match the closest match
in the database. The angle of rotation is relative to the orientation provided
in the shape database. Thus exact shape matches will be 0 degree rotation whereas mirrored objects
would be rotated 180 degrees.
- Size - the relative size of the shape to that in the database. 100% means the shape
is the same size as that in the database. 150% means that the shape is much larger than that in the database.
- Coordinates - the center of where the detected shape and the match in the shape database best correlate. This is the center of the boxes draw around the matches.
- Filename - the name of the image file that represents the best match found in the database. I.e.
this was the original filename of the image as it went into the shape database.
- Box - shows a bounding box around a matched shape that represents the scaled dimensions of the entire shape image in the database.
7. Filter Confidence - to remove shapes that are below a confidence threshold set the
number in the Min Conf text area. If you wish to eliminate shapes of high confidence then
enter a lower number in the Max Conf.
8. Filter Size - used to remove those shapes that are either much larger or smaller
than the original used in the database.
9. Filter Orientation - used to remove shapes that are different in orientation to the
shapes in the database. For example, to remove a 180 degree rotated image enter 170 for Min Angle
and 190 for Max Angle to provide 20 degrees of noise tolerance. To do the same around
0 degrees use 350 in the Min and 10 in the Max. Note that angles reset to 0 above 360.
10. Filter Matching - if you just want to select the top 1 or 2 matches enter that
number in the text box. This will remove all but the top X number of matches.
11. Other - unselect the "Rotational Invariance" checkbox if you do not want the system to ignore
orientation during matching. This can been illustrated when matching the digits '9' and '6' which
are often a 180 degree rotation of each other depending on font used. Unchecking the rotational
invariance checkbox will ensure that templates match based on their current rotation.
12. Shapes Array - for further processing or exporting of data you can select the
"Create SHAPES Array" which will create an array of the results of this module to
be accessed by VBScript or external modules. On selecting this checkbox the following
VBScript program could function.
shapes = GetArrayVariable("SHAPES")
names = GetStrVariable("SHAPES_PATH")
if isArray(shapes) then
if ubound(shapes) > 0 then
for i=0 to ubound(shapes)-1 step 9
nstart = shapes(i+7)
nend = shapes(i+8)
write "Conf: " & (shapes(i)/1000) & "% Path: " & _
mid(names, nstart, nend)
The SHAPES array is composed of 9 numbers as follows:
0 Match Confidence 0-100
1 Orientation 0-360
2 Relative Size
3 X min coordinate of bounding box
4 X max coordinate of bounding box
5 Y min coordinate of bounding box
6 Y max coordinate of bounding box
7 Path start index
8 Length of path
The Path index is a number that defines an offset into another variable SHAPES_PATH
that contains all the path information for a particular match. Using the SHAPES_PATH
and the length of the path you can extract out the path for the match as illustrated
in the small script above.
Note that the creation of a binary image shape matching database
will create a roborealm.shape file in that folder. This file contains
the image information needed for matching and is a more compact form than the original image pixels.
You can change the ordering of the shapes array by selecting the appropriate checkbox. The default order
of the array is in order of encounter from a bottom to top, right to left scanning. Selecting either checkbox
will order the array based on the particular axis with respect to the center of the object.
The user interface image above shows the closest match to
Note that the appropriate confidence, orientation, size, and coordinates are
provided in the interface. You can access these statistics using
RoboRealm variables within the appropriate modules (like the VBScript module).
The following variables (in addition to SHAPES Array) are defined for the top match only:
SHAPE_FILENAME - filename of matched shape
SHAPE_FOLDER_1, SHAPE_FOLDER_2, etc - sub folders of matched shape
SHAPE_ORIENTATION - orientation of current shape relative to match
SHAPE_SIZE - relative size of match to that stored in database
SHAPE_X_COORD - x axis offset of shape relative to that in database
SHAPE_Y_COORD - y axis offset of shape relative to that in database
SHAPE_CONFIDENCE - how close the current object matches that
stored in database
Center of Gravity
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