A novel evolutionary algorithm inspired by the states of matter for template matching

Template matching (TM) plays an important role in several image processing applications such as feature tracking, object recognition, stereo matching and remote sensing. The TM approach seeks the best possible resemblance between a sub-image, known as template, and its coincident region within a source image. TM has two critical aspects: similarity measurement and search strategy. The simplest available TM method finds the best possible coincidence between the images through an exhaustive computation of the Normalized Cross-Correlation (NCC) value (similarity measurement) for all elements in the source image (search strategy). Unfortunately, the use of such approach is strongly restricted since the NCC evaluation is a computationally expensive operation. Recently, several TM algorithms that are based on evolutionary approaches, have been proposed to reduce the number of NCC operations by calculating only a subset of search locations. In this paper, a new algorithm based on the states of matter phenomenon is proposed to reduce the number of search locations in the TM process. In the proposed approach, individuals emulate molecules that experiment state transitions which represent different exploration–exploitation levels. In the algorithm, the computation of search locations is drastically reduced by incorporating a fitness calculation strategy which indicates when it is feasible to calculate or to only estimate the NCC value for new search locations. Conducted simulations show that the proposed method achieves the best balance in comparison to other TM algorithms considering the estimation accuracy and the computational cost.     

归一化互相关灰度图像匹配的多核信号处理器实现

为了满足图像处理对处理器性能的高要求,以基于灰度的归一化互相关(NCC)匹配算法为例,采用高性能、低功耗的多核数字信号处理器(DSP)系统,根据归一化互相关算法中模板图像在源图像中逐个像素搜索并计算相关性的特点,将搜索区域分成六个部分并使TMS320C6472的六个核并行搜索计算这六个区域,并在不同图像存储位置采用不同图像和模板大小实现了多核DSP归一化互相关图像匹配算法。实验结果表明,多核DSP具有作为数字信号处理器的高速信号和图像处理的特点,同时可以根据不同算法通过核间任务分配实现多核并行处理。对于归一化互相关灰度图像匹配算法,TMS320C6472六核DSP和单核DSP比较获得接近单核DSP六倍的性能,对于较大尺寸的图像和PC相比也具有一定的性能加速。     

Block matching algorithm for motion estimation based on Artificial Bee Colony (ABC)

Block matching (BM) motion estimation plays a very important role in video coding. In a BM approach, image frames in a video sequence are divided into blocks. For each block in the current frame, the best matching block is identified inside a region of the previous frame, aiming to minimize the sum of absolute differences (SAD). Unfortunately, the SAD evaluation is computationally expensive and represents the most consuming operation in the BM process. Therefore, BM motion estimation can be approached as an optimization problem, where the goal is to find the best matching block within a search space. The simplest available BM method is the full search algorithm (FSA) which finds the most accurate motion vector through an exhaustive computation of SAD values for all elements of the search window. Recently, several fast BM algorithms have been proposed to reduce the number of SAD operations by calculating only a fixed subset of search locations at the price of poor accuracy. In this paper, a new algorithm based on Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) optimization is proposed to reduce the number of search locations in the BM process. In our algorithm, the computation of search locations is drastically reduced by considering a fitness calculation strategy which indicates when it is feasible to calculate or only estimate new search locations. Since the proposed algorithm does not consider any fixed search pattern or any other movement assumption as most of other BM approaches do, a high probability for finding the true minimum (accurate motion vector) is expected. Conducted simulations show that the proposed method achieves the best balance over other fast BM algorithms, in terms of both estimation accuracy and computational cost.     

基于模板匹配的加速肺结节检测算法研究

使用传统的归一化互相关模板匹配算法进行肺结节检测耗时较长,在数据量较多的情况下容易造成漏诊或误诊。提出一种改进算法,主要从优化搜索策略入手,采用粗-精匹配思想,先使用改进SAD算法进行粗匹配找出侯准匹配点,再采用归一化互相关算法在侯准匹配点邻域内进行精确匹配找出最佳匹配点。实验结果表明,与NCC算法和卷积算法相比较,该算法在保证匹配精度的前提下,较大幅度地提高了匹配速率。采用这种算法进行自动肺节点检测可减少检测时间,对辅助完成早期的疑似肺结节点的定位和跟踪诊断有重要意义。     

边缘增强图像互相关模板匹配的并行架构

基于归一化互相关测度(NCC)的模板匹配已经在图像处理领域得到了广泛的应用。对图像进行边缘检测然后进行模板匹配,可充分利用图像的空间相关性,锐化模板匹配结果的相关峰,提高匹配的准确度,可以获得更高的定位精度。为了有效提高定位精度,考虑到导弹制导系统的算法实时性、体积以及为适应战场不同任务阶段采用不同匹配策略的灵活性要求,基于FPGA,通过结合Sobel边缘检测,进一步改进了提出的图像归一化互相关模板匹配高速并行实现架构。对边缘检测前后图像模板匹配的仿真比较结果表明,边缘检测处理可有效锐化相关峰;基于Altera的FPGA芯片EP2S90和开发软件Quartus Ⅱ 8.0的并行实现架构功能与时序仿真及在实际目标识别系统中的应用表明,这种方案可有效地提高系统的运算速度和定位精度,FPGA实现本身也进一步缩小了系统的体积。     

基于奇异值分解结合Harris的快速匹配方法研究

针对室内环境下视觉图像匹配速度慢、精度低等问题,提出一种基于奇异值分解结合Harris的快速匹配新方法.随机采集两组相邻的视觉图像作为研究对象,利用奇异值分解(SVD)对视觉图像进行压缩与重构.利用Harris角点检测算法对重构后的视觉图像进行特征角点的检测,然后结合归一化互相关(NCC)算法对视觉图像的特征角点进行一次粗匹配,最后采用随机抽样一致性(RANSAC)方法对粗匹配结果进行校正,实现特征点对的精匹配.实验表明:与传统的归一化互相关模板匹配算法相比,该算法不仅将视觉图像在室内环境下的误匹配率降低至2.35％,而且图像匹配的速率提升了3倍.     

Simple low-dimensional features approximating NCC-based image matching

This paper proposes new low-dimensional image features that enable images to be very efficiently matched. Image matching is one of the key technologies for many vision-based applications, including template matching, block motion estimation, video compression, stereo vision, image/video near-duplicate detection, similarity join for image/video database, and so on. Normalized cross correlation (NCC) is one of widely used method for image matching with preferable characteristics such as robustness to intensity offsets and contrast changes, but it is computationally expensive. The proposed features, derived by the method of Lagrange multipliers, can provide upper-bounds of NCC as a simple dot product between two low-dimensional feature vectors. By using the proposed features, NCC-based image matching can be effectively accelerated. The matching performance with the proposed features is demonstrated using an image database obtained from actual broadcast videos. The new features are shown to outperform other methods: multilevel successive elimination algorithm (MSEA), discrete cosine transform (DCT) coefficients, and histograms, achieving very high precision while only slightly sacrificing recall.     

Block-matching algorithm based on differential evolution for motion estimation

Motion estimation is one of the major problems in developing video coding applications. Among all motion estimation approaches, block-matching (BM) algorithms are the most popular methods due to their effectiveness and simplicity for both software and hardware implementations. A BM approach assumes that the movement of pixels within a defined region of the current frame (macro block, MB) can be modeled as a translation of pixels contained in the previous frame. In this procedure, the motion vector is obtained by minimizing the sum of absolute differences (SAD) produced by the MB of the current frame over a determined search window from the previous frame. The SAD evaluation is computationally expensive and represents the most consuming operation in the BM process. The most straightforward BM method is the full search algorithm (FSA), which finds the most accurate motion vector, exhaustively calculating the SAD values for all the elements of the search window. Over this decade, several fast BM algorithms have been proposed to reduce the number of SAD operations by calculating only a fixed subset of search locations at the cost of poor accuracy. In this paper, a new algorithm based on differential evolution (DE) is proposed to reduce the number of search locations in the BM process. To avoid computing several search locations, the algorithm estimates the SAD values (fitness) for some locations using the SAD values of previously calculated neighboring positions. As the proposed algorithm does not consider any fixed search pattern or any other different assumption, a high probability for finding the true minimum (accurate motion vector) is expected. In comparison with other fast BM algorithms, the proposed method deploys more accurate motion vectors, yet delivering competitive time rates.     

模板图像匹配中互相关的一种快速算法

基于归一化互相关系数的算法在模板匹配和特征跟踪中运用十分广泛,但缺点是其计算量很大.为此提出了一种在空间域利用盒形基简化互相关的快速算法,在不修改归一化互相关匹配原理的前提下,用原模板图像在一组正交盒形基张成的子空间上的投影取代原图像来进行互相关计算,以降低图像精度来缩减计算复杂度.实验说明,当搜索窗口大小较小时,此快速算法计算量明显小于传统的频域快速归一化互相关算法.     

融合图像感知哈希技术的运动目标跟踪

目的 为解决运动目标跟踪时因遮挡、尺度变换等产生的目标丢失以及传统匹配跟踪算法计算复杂度高等问题,提出一种融合图像感知哈希技术的运动目标跟踪算法.方法 本文算法利用感知哈希技术提取目标摘要进行模板图像识别匹配,采用匹配跟踪策略和搜索跟踪策略相配合来准确跟踪目标,并构建模板评价函数和模板更新准则实现目标模板的自适应更新,保证其在目标发生遮挡和尺度变换情况下的适应性.结果 该算法与基于NCC(normalized cross correlation)的模板匹配跟踪算法、Mean-shift跟踪算法以及压缩跟踪算法相比,在目标尺度变换和物体遮挡时,跟踪的连续性和稳定性更好,且具有较低的计算复杂度,能分别降低跟踪系统约6.2%、 6.3%、 9.3%的计算时间.结论 本文算法能有效实现视频场景中目标发生遮挡及尺度变换情况下的跟踪,跟踪的连续性和稳定性良好,且算法具有较低的计算复杂度,有利于实时性跟踪系统的构建.     

基于互相关边界特性和图像积分的快速模板匹配算法

基于归一化算法求解相似度原理,提出了综合利用互相关的边界条件和图像积分计算相似度的快速算法,在不降低匹配精度的前提下较大地提高了匹配速度。计算相似度时,归一化算法需要计算各位置的自相关值和互相关值,本算法先只计算自相关值,再利用Holder不等式原理,结合给定的边界阈值,剔除不满足条件的位置,减少其对应的互相关值计算。应用图像的积分进行匹配在于整个图像的积分可以在匹配之前进行计算,而在匹配过程中每一个子区域的自相关可以通过图像积分快速求得。本算法已在焊线机芯片识别系统中应用,结果表明该算法匹配的速度快而又不降低匹配精度,具有实际应用价值。     

基于Mean Shift算法和灰度模板匹配的运动目标主动跟踪

该文提出了一种综合Mean Shift算法和灰度模板匹配的主动跟踪算法。该算法利用灰度模板匹配与运动目标在图像的位置无关的特点,在视角和焦距发生变化后用灰度模板进行穷尽搜索,再用匹配结果更新Mean Shift搜索窗口,解决了Mean Shift算法要已知目标区域才能正确跟踪的问题。该算法能在视角和焦距发生变化的情况下能正确的跟踪运动目标并能使被跟踪的运动目标始终保持在图像的中心区域。实验表明,该算法具有较好的可行性。     

Modified whale optimization algorithm for underwater image matching in a UUV vision system

In this paper, a hybrid whale optimization algorithm based on the Lévy flight strategy (LWOA) and lateral inhibition (LI) is proposed to solve the underwater image matching problem in an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) vision system. The proposed image matching technique is called the LI-LWOA. The whale optimization algorithm (WOA) simulates encircling prey, bubble-net attacking and searching for prey to obtain the global optimal solution. The algorithm not only can balance the exploration and exploitation but also has high calculation accuracy. The Lévy flight strategy can expand the search space to avoid premature convergence and enhance the global search ability. In addition, the lateral inhibition mechanism is applied to conduct image preprocessing, which enhances the intensity gradient and image characters, and improves the image matching accuracy. The LI-LWOA achieves the complementary advantages of the LWOA and lateral inhibition to improve the image matching accuracy and enhance the robustness. To verify the overall optimization performance of the LI-LWOA, a series of underwater image matching experiments that seek to maximize the fitness value are performed, and the matching results are compared with those of other algorithms. The experimental results show that the LI-LWOA has better fitness, higher matching accuracy and stronger robustness. In addition, the proposed algorithm is a more effective and feasible method for solving the underwater image matching problem.

     

基于差分矩阵的KMP图像快速匹配算法

针对KMP图像匹配方法应用于带噪声或子图与模板灰度非一致时的图像匹配中存在效率较低,匹配成功率很低的问题,提出了一种基于差分二值矩阵的KMP图像快速匹配算法。该算法先对图像矩阵进行差分求值,利用二值矩阵再进行KMP图像行匹配的方法搜索可能的匹配位置,比较这些位置的整个图像的匹配情况,从中筛选出正确的匹配位置。同时,在行匹配过程中通过记录开始的匹配位置来减少搜索空间,提高效率。实验表明,该方法有效提高了匹配速度,保证了匹配正确率。     

基于点特征的旋转图像匹配新方法

图像匹配在模式识别、图像分析和计算机视觉中有着广泛的应用.图像匹配是将模板在参考图中逐像素移动,计算它们的灰度相似性,搜索相似性最大的位置.这种逐像素的搜索方法计算复杂度高.如果模板和参考图之间存在旋转,传统的匹配方法很难实时实现.提出了一种基于点特征的旋转图像的匹配方法,首先采用Harris角点检测算子提取图像的特征点,然后利用小面模型对特征点邻域进行拟合,提取特征点的旋转不变特征,最后利用特征点的旋转不变特征进行点集的匹配,获取图像的平移和旋转参数.该方法匹配结果准确,与传统的相关匹配方法相比计算复杂度很小,易于实时实现.     

基于形状模板的快速高精度可靠图像匹配

为了提高工业检测中图像匹配精度和速度,提出一种基于形状模板的快速高精度图像配准算法：根据定义的图像匹配相似度量,采用图像金字塔搜索匹配策略,利用形状信息进行模板匹配。具体流程为：首先在参考图像上选择感兴趣区域生成模板,使用Canny滤波器对模板和搜索图像进行滤波,并计算边缘点的方向向量;其次,在此基础上构造该模板和搜索图像的图像金字塔,在图像金字塔最高层图像进行完全遍历匹配,获得具有匹配分值的潜在匹配点,然后根据匹配分值大小逐层逐次跟踪潜在匹配点,进行匹配,直至图像金字塔最底层;最后使用最小二乘法调整位姿参数,使其达到亚像素精度。实验表明该方法匹配速度快,匹配精度高,而且匹配鲁棒性高,不受遮挡、混乱、非线性光照变化、离焦、对比度低、全局对比度反转、局部对比度反转等情况的影响,完全可以满足实际工业需求。     

一种图像匹配中SSD和NCC算法的改进

论文针对图像匹配计算中的SSD和NCC算法提出一种基于递推增量计算的改进算法。分析和利用计算图像每个像素的SSD和NCC值时的模板在水平方向和竖直方向上具有的平移特性,以及前后上下像素模板的相互关系,利用已计算的值,来计算新的像素点的SSD和NCC值。定量分析和仿真结果显示,该算法能够有效地降低计算量。另外由于只是从计算方法上对这两种算法进行了改进,并未改变其原理,所以该方法能够保证SSD和NCC算法在立体匹配计算时本身的特性没有改变。     

检测肺结节的3维自适应模板匹配

目的 针对传统模板匹配方法检测肺结节存在的问题,提出一种用于CT图像中检测肺结节的3维自适应模板匹配算法。方法 首先,从CT序列图像中分割出3维肺实质,采用Canny算子等方法从分割出的3维肺实质中提取3维感兴趣区域作为候选肺结节;然后,确定每个3维感兴趣区域的主方向和中心层,并以此中心层作为信息层,沿主方向对信息层进行3维扩展生成3维模板;最后,对自适应模板和候选结节的3维归一化互相关(NCC)相关系数进行计算,将相似性高于设定阈值的区域标记为肺结节。结果 采用66个临床CT病例对本文方法进行了肺结节检测实验,结果显示本文方法对肺结节检测的敏感率为95.29%,假阳性为12.90%。结论 本文方法对检测肺结节具有较高的敏感率和准确率,可在临床上有效辅助放射科医生对肺结节进行检测,从而提高放射科医生检测肺结节的准确性和工作效率。     

一种基于网格结构图象的目标匹配定位方法

为了在不降低图象目标配准精度的前提下，加快苑配速度，提出了一种基于网格结构图象的从粗到细的目标匹配混合算法。该算法首先基本网格结构图象来抽取图象和模板的主要结构信息，以构成图象和模板的粗尺度上的一种表示，进而在这种粗尺度表示的图象上进行相似度粗匹配；然后基于引导的搜索策略，将粗匹配的目标位置对应到原图象的一些小区域，再采用部分Hausdorff距离匹配方法在这些小区域进行二次匹配和精确定位，经上述两个步骤的混合使用，不仅极大减少了计算开销，且没有降低匹配的准确度，将该混合算法与无粗匹配的部分Hausdorff距离全图匹配算法相比较，速度提高非常显著，该算法在集成电路显微图象上进行测试，取得了很好的效果。     

基于QP_TR信任域方法的低信噪比序列图像目标跟踪*

运动平台上低信噪比序列图像中的目标跟踪面临着两大困难:平台运动导致图像存在全局平移,使得目标在相邻帧间脱离跟踪算法搜索窗;图像中的干扰使得跟踪窗口经常跳动而导致跟踪失败.鉴于QP_TR信任域算法的优良性能,针对上述两个问题提出了一种新的基于QP_TR信任域和Kalman滤波的跟踪算法.该算法利用QP_TR进行图像稳定和模板匹配,通过Kalman滤波器状态估计滤除干扰.与三步搜索方法相比,加大了搜索窗大小的同时减少了模板匹配的次数,提高了性能.在真实图像序列上进行的实验表明,该算法能有效地稳定运动图像,实现运动平台上低信噪比序列图像中目标的稳定跟踪.