Resistive Fuses: Analog Hardware for Detecting Discontinuities in Early Vision

Abstract

This invention is primarily a "resistive fuse" circuit, being a hardware circuit that explicitly implements either analog or binary line processes in a controlled fashion. In a machine vision system for viewing an area and providing individual voltages representing the light intensity of a plurality of pixel positions within the area, this invention permits the method of operation for smoothing the individual voltages and simultaneously recognizing and preserving discontinuities in the area comprising the steps of, connecting respective ones of the individual voltages to respective ones of a plurality of intersections of a balanced network of indentical smoothing elements interconnected at intersections; allowing currents from the individual voltages to pass through the smoothing elements between the intersections and settle; within each element, providing a fixed resistance to voltages thereacross which are below a pre-established threshold amount and providing an infinite resistance to voltages thereacross which are above the pre-established threshold amount whereby as the currents flow the individual voltages are smoothed and discontinuities in the area reflected in the individual voltages are simultaneously recognized and preserved rather than being smoothed over; and, taking individual smoothed voltages from the intersections as data from the machine vision system for further processing. In a dynamically reconfigurable embodiment, the method further includes the steps of analyzing the individual smoothed voltages from the intersections to determine pixels associated with possible discontinuities and dynamically lowering said threshold amount in ones of the elements associated with pixels having possible discontinuities associated therewith whereby sensitivity to recognition of discontinuities is increased.