Model-based image processing to locate pigs within images

Abstract

Advances in image processing and computing are allowing the automation of increasingly complex tasks. As part of a long-term project in automatic livestock monitoring, methods of locating and characterizing images of pigs are being developed. This paper reports on the development of a model-based technique to locate pigs in fairly unstructured scenes. Model-based image processing is potentially a very powerful technique for identifying and classifying images. It is particularly relevant for biological objects such as animals, which are difficult to define in numerical terms. Here the model is based on an image of a typical pig, viewed from above. The model can then be rotated, translated, scaled and bent laterally to find a good match within an image of another pig. The output of the model helps to segment and classify the pig, and the information can be used to guide further localized image processing. The development of the model and methods of fitting it to the image are described and results on a sample image are presented.