“Sidewalk Surfin’” Damian Wegner

Project Definition Develop modules that can be decoupled from the application The modules will consist of image processing techniques that produce quantitative results Design a visual application that can locate the center of the sidewalk and follow it Processing should be done in “quick time”

Solution Take pictures of sidewalk Implement Sobel Edge Detection Algorithm Implement method to find center of an object Test on still pictures Test on streaming video from web cam Implement methods to forecast direction  Simple forecast  Best fit line Optimize code

Exceptions Use more advanced historical data to:  Provide better forecast of movement  Minimize impact of losing an edge Create a library (either dynamic or static)

Methodology Use still images to create a controlled environment in which to develop and test algorithms for edge detection and to find the center of an object Once tested in control environment, test in a “live environment” via the web cam Optimize code to speed up execution

Methodology Explained Controlled Environment --First picture created in MS Paint --Other later pictures taken with the web cam

Methodology Explained Sobel Algorithm --Use two masks to emphasize the difference between quasi- adjacent pixels xmaskymask

Methodology Explained Find-Center Algorithm --Find first black pixel in each direction --Repeat x number of times to get average values for the left and right edges --Set new center as middle of the edges

Live Demonstration Time to watch a video!! Plus a little audience involvement…

Development Process Began with code from Mr. Blahnik, which allowed me to bring in streaming video from a web cam Searched online for how to bring in a bitmap file and store it in an array Got Sobel Edge Detection Algorithm from Drexel Grad Student

Knowledge Used All CS courses—array use —functions / subroutines CS220—files, especially bitmaps CS321—algorithm analysis for code optimization CS350—event programming

Extensions Implement other edge detection algorithms and use a combination to more accurately and more consistently find edges Implement more advanced method of history and compare the results Combine with “I’ll be watching you” to center on a moving object, etc.

Advice Start early Grow your project  helps keep you motivated Save often and maintain a version history of code The CS professors aren’t just there for looks…they know a thing or two. Keep in touch with them; they can be a great asset. Documentation begins on Day 1! Don’t wait until the end to try to generate documentation.

Questions? ?