We Keep Coding

Finding bright spots in a image using opencv

I want to find the bright spots in the above image and tag them using some symbol. For this i have tried using the Hough Circle Transform algorithm that OpenCV already provides. But it is giving some kind of assertion error when i run the code. I also tried the Canny edge detection algorithm which is also provided in OpenCV but it is also giving some kind of assertion error. I would like to know if there is some method to get this done or if i can prevent those error messages.
I am new to OpenCV and any help would be really appreciated.
P.S. - I can also use Scikit-image if necessary. So if this can be done using Scikit-image then please tell me how.
Below is my preprocessing code:
import cv2
import numpy as np
image = cv2.imread("image1.png")
gray_image = cv2.cvtColor(image, cv2.COLOR_BGR2GRAY)
binary_image = np.where(gray_image > np.mean(gray_image),1.0,0.0)
binary_image = cv2.Laplacian(binary_image, cv2.CV_8UC1)

If you are just going to work with simple images like your example where you have black background, you can use same basic preprocessing/thresholding then find connected components. Use this example code to draw a circle inside all circles in the image.
import cv2
import numpy as np
image = cv2.imread("image1.png")
# constants
BINARY_THRESHOLD = 20
CONNECTIVITY = 4
DRAW_CIRCLE_RADIUS = 4
# convert to gray
gray_image = cv2.cvtColor(image, cv2.COLOR_BGR2GRAY)
# extract edges
binary_image = cv2.Laplacian(gray_image, cv2.CV_8UC1)
# fill in the holes between edges with dilation
dilated_image = cv2.dilate(binary_image, np.ones((5, 5)))
# threshold the black/ non-black areas
_, thresh = cv2.threshold(dilated_image, BINARY_THRESHOLD, 255, cv2.THRESH_BINARY)
# find connected components
components = cv2.connectedComponentsWithStats(thresh, CONNECTIVITY, cv2.CV_32S)
# draw circles around center of components
#see connectedComponentsWithStats function for attributes of components variable
centers = components[3]
for center in centers:
cv2.circle(thresh, (int(center[0]), int(center[1])), DRAW_CIRCLE_RADIUS, (255), thickness=-1)
cv2.imwrite("res.png", thresh)
cv2.imshow("result", thresh)
cv2.waitKey(0)
Here is resulting image:
Edit: connectedComponentsWithStats takes a binary image as input, and returns connected pixel groups in that image. If you would like to implement that function yourself, naive way would be:
1- Scan image pixels from top left to bottom right until you encounter a non-zero pixel that does not have a label (id).
2- When you encounter a non-zero pixel, search all its neighbours recursively( If you use 4 connectivity you check UP-LEFT-DOWN-RIGHT, with 8 connectivity you also check diagonals) until you finish that region. Assign each pixel a label. Increase your label counter.
3- Continue scanning from where you left.

Difficulty in detected ellipses in image

I am trying to detect ellipses in some images.
After some functions I got this edges map:
I tried using Hough transform to detect ellipses, but this transform has very high complexity, so my computer didn't finish running the transform command even after 5 hours(!).
I also tried doing connected components and got this:
In last case I also tried continue and binarized the image.
In all cases I am stuck in these steps, and have no idea how continue from here.
My mission is detect tomatoes in the image. I am approaching this by trying to detect circles and ellipses and find the radius (or average radius in ellipses case) for each one.
edited:
I add my code for the first method (the result is edge map from above):
img = cv2.imread(r'../images/assorted_tomatoes.jpg')
gray_img = cv2.cvtColor(img, cv2.COLOR_BGR2GRAY)
imgAfterLight=lightreduce(img)
imgAfterGamma=gamma_correctiom(imgAfterLight,0.8)
th2 = 255 - cv2.adaptiveThreshold(imgAfterGamma,255,cv2.ADAPTIVE_THRESH_GAUSSIAN_C,cv2.THRESH_BINARY,5,3)
median2 = cv2.medianBlur(th2,3)
where median2 is the result of shown above in edge map
and the code for connected components:
import scipy
from scipy import ndimage
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import cv2
import numpy as np
fname=r'../images/assorted_tomatoes.jpg'
blur_radius = 1.0
threshold = 50
img = scipy.misc.imread(fname) # gray-scale image
gray_img = cv2.cvtColor(img, cv2.COLOR_BGR2GRAY)
print(img.shape)
# smooth the image (to remove small objects)
imgf = ndimage.gaussian_filter(gray_img, blur_radius)
threshold = 80
# find connected components
labeled, nr_objects = ndimage.label(imgf > threshold)
where labeled is the result above
another edit:
this is the input image:
Input
The problem is that after edge detection, there are a lot of unnecessary edges in sub regions that disturbing for make smooth edge map

To me this looks like a classic problem for the watershed algorithm. It is designed for segmenting out touching objects like the tomatoes. My example is in Matlab (I'm on the wrong computer today) but it should translate to python easily. First convert to greyscale as you do and then invert the images
I=rgb2gray(img)
I2=imcomplement(I)
The image as is will over segment, so we remove minima that are too shallow. This can be done with the h-minima transform
I3=imhmin(I2,50);
You might need to play with the 50 value which is the height threshold for suppressing shallow minima. Now run the watershed algorithm and we get the following result.
L=watershed(I3);
The results are not perfect. It needs additional logic to remove some of the small regions, but it will give a reasonable estimate. The watershed and h-minima are contained in the skimage.morphology package in python.

medical image segmentation with cv2

I am using the MIAS data set of breast cancer mammography pictures. The data is available here:
http://peipa.essex.ac.uk/pix/mias/
for example, an image looks like this:
import cv2
import numpy as np
img = cv2.imread("mdb168.pgm",0)
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
plt.imshow(img, cmap="gray")
I want to remove all artifacts and unnecessary parts of the image.
To do this,I first binarize the image
ret,thresh1 = cv2.threshold(img,0,255,cv2.THRESH_BINARY)
plt.imshow(thresh1, cmap="gray")
use opening
kernel = np.ones((20,20),np.uint8)
opening = cv2.morphologyEx(thresh1, cv2.MORPH_OPEN, kernel)
plt.imshow(opening, cmap="gray")
then erosion
kernel = np.ones((120,120),np.uint8)
erosion = cv2.erode(opening,kernel,iterations = 1)
plt.imshow(erosion, cmap="gray")
then merge this mask with the original image
merged = cv2.bitwise_and(img, img , mask=erosion)
plt.imshow(merged, cmap="gray")
I am now trying to remove the pectoral muscle in the upper left area.
In this publication: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26742491
they use the exact same data set and do this with `seeded region growing'.
However, there is no code provided and I could not find this in opencv.
I could achieve a similar result by doing dilate/erosion etc again, but I'm looking for a more generalizable solution.
Also, some of these images do not show a muscle and this should be detected as well.

I would use the following approach:
(optional) I would replace the opening and the erosion with an opening by reconstruction <=> erosion followed by a geodesic dilation. It will preserve the original shape, and then you will keep a bigger ROI.
Convolution filter (gaussian or simple average) to smooth the image
Big white top-hat in order to detect the bright zone.
Then you subtract the top-hat result to the original image.

Remove background of the image using opencv Python

I have two images, one with only background and the other with background + detectable object (in my case its a car). Below are the images
I am trying to remove the background such that I only have car in the resulting image. Following is the code that with which I am trying to get the desired results
import numpy as np
import cv2
original_image = cv2.imread('IMG1.jpg', cv2.IMREAD_COLOR)
gray_original = cv2.cvtColor(original_image, cv2.COLOR_BGR2GRAY)
background_image = cv2.imread('IMG2.jpg', cv2.IMREAD_COLOR)
gray_background = cv2.cvtColor(background_image, cv2.COLOR_BGR2GRAY)
foreground = np.absolute(gray_original - gray_background)
foreground[foreground > 0] = 255
cv2.imshow('Original Image', foreground)
cv2.waitKey(0)
The resulting image by subtracting the two images is
Here is the problem. The expected resulting image should be a car only.
Also, If you take a deep look in the two images, you'll see that they are not exactly same that is, the camera moved a little so background had been disturbed a little. My question is that with these two images how can I subtract the background. I do not want to use grabCut or backgroundSubtractorMOG algorithm right now because I do not know right now whats going on inside those algorithms.
What I am trying to do is to get the following resulting image
Also if possible, please guide me with a general way of doing this not only in this specific case that is, I have a background in one image and background+object in the second image. What could be the best possible way of doing this. Sorry for such a long question.

I solved your problem using the OpenCV's watershed algorithm. You can find the theory and examples of watershed here.
First I selected several points (markers) to dictate where is the object I want to keep, and where is the background. This step is manual, and can vary a lot from image to image. Also, it requires some repetition until you get the desired result. I suggest using a tool to get the pixel coordinates.
Then I created an empty integer array of zeros, with the size of the car image. And then I assigned some values (1:background, [255,192,128,64]:car_parts) to pixels at marker positions.
NOTE: When I downloaded your image I had to crop it to get the one with the car. After cropping, the image has size of 400x601. This may not be what the size of the image you have, so the markers will be off.
Afterwards I used the watershed algorithm. The 1st input is your image and 2nd input is the marker image (zero everywhere except at marker positions). The result is shown in the image below.
I set all pixels with value greater than 1 to 255 (the car), and the rest (background) to zero. Then I dilated the obtained image with a 3x3 kernel to avoid losing information on the outline of the car. Finally, I used the dilated image as a mask for the original image, using the cv2.bitwise_and() function, and the result lies in the following image:
Here is my code:
import cv2
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
# Load the image
img = cv2.imread("/path/to/image.png", 3)
# Create a blank image of zeros (same dimension as img)
# It should be grayscale (1 color channel)
marker = np.zeros_like(img[:,:,0]).astype(np.int32)
# This step is manual. The goal is to find the points
# which create the result we want. I suggest using a
# tool to get the pixel coordinates.
# Dictate the background and set the markers to 1
marker[204][95] = 1
marker[240][137] = 1
marker[245][444] = 1
marker[260][427] = 1
marker[257][378] = 1
marker[217][466] = 1
# Dictate the area of interest
# I used different values for each part of the car (for visibility)
marker[235][370] = 255 # car body
marker[135][294] = 64 # rooftop
marker[190][454] = 64 # rear light
marker[167][458] = 64 # rear wing
marker[205][103] = 128 # front bumper
# rear bumper
marker[225][456] = 128
marker[224][461] = 128
marker[216][461] = 128
# front wheel
marker[225][189] = 192
marker[240][147] = 192
# rear wheel
marker[258][409] = 192
marker[257][391] = 192
marker[254][421] = 192
# Now we have set the markers, we use the watershed
# algorithm to generate a marked image
marked = cv2.watershed(img, marker)
# Plot this one. If it does what we want, proceed;
# otherwise edit your markers and repeat
plt.imshow(marked, cmap='gray')
plt.show()
# Make the background black, and what we want to keep white
marked[marked == 1] = 0
marked[marked > 1] = 255
# Use a kernel to dilate the image, to not lose any detail on the outline
# I used a kernel of 3x3 pixels
kernel = np.ones((3,3),np.uint8)
dilation = cv2.dilate(marked.astype(np.float32), kernel, iterations = 1)
# Plot again to check whether the dilation is according to our needs
# If not, repeat by using a smaller/bigger kernel, or more/less iterations
plt.imshow(dilation, cmap='gray')
plt.show()
# Now apply the mask we created on the initial image
final_img = cv2.bitwise_and(img, img, mask=dilation.astype(np.uint8))
# cv2.imread reads the image as BGR, but matplotlib uses RGB
# BGR to RGB so we can plot the image with accurate colors
b, g, r = cv2.split(final_img)
final_img = cv2.merge([r, g, b])
# Plot the final result
plt.imshow(final_img)
plt.show()
If you have a lot of images you will probably need to create a tool to annotate the markers graphically, or even an algorithm to find markers automatically.

The problem is that you're subtracting arrays of unsigned 8 bit integers. This operation can overflow.
To demonstrate
>>> import numpy as np
>>> a = np.array([[10,10]],dtype=np.uint8)
>>> b = np.array([[11,11]],dtype=np.uint8)
>>> a - b
array([[255, 255]], dtype=uint8)
Since you're using OpenCV, the simplest way to achieve your goal is to use cv2.absdiff().
>>> cv2.absdiff(a,b)
array([[1, 1]], dtype=uint8)

I recommend using OpenCV's grabcut algorithm. You first draw a few lines on the foreground and background, and keep doing this until your foreground is sufficiently separated from the background. It is covered here: https://docs.opencv.org/trunk/d8/d83/tutorial_py_grabcut.html
as well as in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAwxLTDDAwU

Remove features from binarized image

I wrote a little script to transform pictures of chalkboards into a form that I can print off and mark up.
I take an image like this:
Auto-crop it, and binarize it. Here's the output of the script:
I would like to remove the largest connected black regions from the image. Is there a simple way to do this?
I was thinking of eroding the image to eliminate the text and then subtracting the eroded image from the original binarized image, but I can't help thinking that there's a more appropriate method.

Sure you can just get connected components (of certain size) with findContours or floodFill, and erase them leaving some smear. However, if you like to do it right you would think about why do you have the black area in the first place.
You did not use adaptive thresholding (locally adaptive) and this made your output sensitive to shading. Try not to get the black region in the first place by running something like this:
Mat img = imread("desk.jpg", 0);
Mat img2, dst;
pyrDown(img, img2);
adaptiveThreshold(255-img2, dst, 255, ADAPTIVE_THRESH_MEAN_C,
THRESH_BINARY, 9, 10); imwrite("adaptiveT.png", dst);
imshow("dst", dst);
waitKey(-1);
In the future, you may read something about adaptive thresholds and how to sample colors locally. I personally found it useful to sample binary colors orthogonally to the image gradient (that is on the both sides of it). This way the samples of white and black are of equal size which is a big deal since typically there are more background color which biases estimation. Using SWT and MSER may give you even more ideas about text segmentation.

I tried this:
import numpy as np
import cv2
im = cv2.imread('image.png')
gray = cv2.cvtColor(im,cv2.COLOR_BGR2GRAY)
grayout = 255*np.ones((im.shape[0],im.shape[1],1), np.uint8)
blur = cv2.GaussianBlur(gray,(5,5),1)
thresh = cv2.adaptiveThreshold(blur,255,1,1,11,2)
contours,hierarchy = cv2.findContours(thresh,cv2.RETR_LIST,cv2.CHAIN_APPROX_SIMPLE)
wcnt = 0
for item in contours:
area =cv2.contourArea(item)
print wcnt,area
[x,y,w,h] = cv2.boundingRect(item)
if area>10 and area<200:
roi = gray[y:y+h,x:x+w]
cntd = 0
for i in range(x,x+w):
for j in range(y,y+h):
if gray[j,i]==0:
cntd = cntd + 1
density = cntd/(float(h*w))
if density<0.5:
for i in range(x,x+w):
for j in range(y,y+h):
grayout[j,i] = gray[j,i];
wcnt = wcnt + 1
cv2.imwrite('result.png',grayout)
You have to balance two things, removing the black spots but balance that with not losing the contents of what is on the board. The output I got is this:

Here is a Python numpy implementation (using my own mahotas package) of the method for the top answer (almost the same, I think):
import mahotas as mh
import numpy as np
Imported mahotas & numpy with standard abbreviations
im = mh.imread('7Esco.jpg', as_grey=1)
Load the image & convert to gray
im2 = im[::2,::2]
im2 = mh.gaussian_filter(im2, 1.4)
Downsample and blur (for speed and noise removal).
im2 = 255 - im2
Invert the image
mean_filtered = mh.convolve(im2.astype(float), np.ones((9,9))/81.)
Mean filtering is implemented "by hand" with a convolution.
imc = im2 > mean_filtered - 4
You might need to adjust the number 4 here, but it worked well for this image.
mh.imsave('binarized.png', (imc*255).astype(np.uint8))
Convert to 8 bits and save in PNG format.