Built-in tools

Overview

The VisionAppster platform comes with a comprehensive set of building blocks we call tools. The built-in tools range from primitive mathematical functions to complex image analysis algorithms. A few selected examples:

Mathematical functions

• Absolute value

• Add

• Power

• Mean

• Complex conjugate

• Standard deviation

Control structures

• Begin and end iteration

• Begin and end branch

• Embedded JavaScript

Utilities

• Timer

• File system watcher

• Sorting

Image processing

• Adaptive binarization

• Linear filter

• Rotate image

• Hue mapping

Image analysis

• Blob detection

• Shape detection

• Read matrix and QR codes

• Find any object

• Measure distances

Access a camera

• Get images

• Calibrate camera

Deep neural networks

• Run a DNN model

• Convert image to tensor

List of all tools

Abs	Takes absolute value of a scalar, a matrix or a tensor.
Add	Adds up the inputs element by element.
Add images	Applies weights to two images, adds the weighted images together and outputs the result.
Add noise	Adds simulated white noise to the input image.
Adjust calibration	Changes the calibration factors and/or the world frame of an image without changing pixel data.
Adjust points to gradient	Adjusts the given points in the input image towards maximum gradients and filters out the points which are surrounded by too similar points.
Align images	Adjusts the world frame and calibration data of an image so that the pixels are aligned with reference as if this image was a scaled version of reference.
Analyze blob geometry	Calculates geometric properties for labeled objects.
Analyze blob statistics	Calulates histograms of blobs in a gray scale image.
Analyze histogram	Calculates statistical features from a histogram.
Angle between lines	Calculates the angle between two lines.
Arithmetic	Base class for arithmetic tools.
Array element	Takes the nth element of an array.
Array to CSV record conversion	Converts elements of an input array to strings and joins them to a single string that can be written to a CSV file.
Automatic target location	Attempts to localize a target object on a relatively uniform background and to crop it out of the image.
Automatic target location	Attempts to localize a target object on a relatively uniform background and to crop it out of the image.
Balance colors	Corrects RGB color balance according to the given scaling factors.
Barcode detection mask	A compound tool that splits an image to fixed-size blocks and produces a low-resolution detection mask image by classifying each sub-image.
Barcode probability	Calculates the probability that a barcode is present in an image patch.
Begin branch	Passes input parameters to alternative branches depending on the branch input.
Begin iterate	A starting point for a part of a processing graph that needs to be repeated multiple times with different parameters.
Bin pixels	Combines adjacent pixels to produce a lower-resolution and less noisy output image.
Binarize	Transforms any gray-level or color image to a binary image using a static gray-level threshold.
Binarize adaptively	Transforms any gray-level or color image to a binary image using one of the selected adaptive thresholding algorithms.
Binarize with limits	Transforms any gray-level image to a binary image.
Binary function	Base class for arithmetic and logic tools that take two input parameters.
Binary morphology	Applies morphological operations to binary images.
Blob bounding box	Calculates the areas, centroids and bounding boxes of labeled objects.
Boolean logic	Performs Boolean logic on inputs a and b.
Bounding box	Calculates the axis-aligned bounding box of a set of 2D points.
Calibrate camera	Calculates intrinsic calibration parameters (principal point, focal length and radial distortion) of a matrix camera.
Calibrate line-scan camera	Calculates intrinsic calibration parameters for a line-scan camera.
Calibrate manually	Calculates scaling factors between pixels and world units.
Caliper	A compound tool that contains a GrayLevelProfileTool and a MeasureGapWidthsTool.
Collapse array	Base class for tools which collapse a dimension from images, matrices and tensors.
Color distance	Transforms input image into a gray-level image.
Color ratio	Given a reference color and a color sample, calculates scaling factors suitable for color balancing.
Combine color channels	Combines separated color channels to a color image.
Compare	Compares a numeric value, matrix or tensor a to another numeric value, matrix or tensor b and outputs the result as a Boolean value.
Complex conjugate	Conjugates the input.
Compress image	Compresses the pixel buffer of an image.
Convert colors	Converts encoded images to RGB or grayscale.
Convert to string	Converts anything to a string.
Convert type	Changes the data type of the input object or converts a string to a number.
Correct gamma	Compresses or expands gray or RGB levels using a non-linear power-law function.
Count	Increases a counter and produces a reset signal every time the counter reaches a user-defined maximum value.
Count line crossings	Counts the number of times a trajectory or a set of trajectories crosses a line segment.
Crop image	Quickly extracts a rectangular portion of an image.
Cryptographic hash	Generates a cryptographic hash string from the input string using a hashing algorithm.
Deserialize object	Takes in a binary blob and deserializes it to an object.
Detect blobs	Detects blobs in an image using 4- or 8-connectivity.
Detect boundaries	Detects boundaries of connected objects in images and outputs them as a matrix that contains the coordinates of vertices that form a polygon.
Detect boundary shape	A compound that combines boundary detection and the shape context to an easy-to-use key point detector.
Detect circles	Detects circles in point sets.
Detect corners	Detects corners in images.
Detect edges	Detects prominent edges in images.
Detect LBP texture	This tool is a compound that combines key point finder and local binary patterns to an easy-to-use keypoint and feature vector detector.
Detect lines	Detects line segments.
Detect motion	Accumulates a model of a static background of a scene with moving objects.
Detect shapes	Detects shapes by matching a boundary curve to a known geometric shape or a user-defined shape.
Detection mask	A compound tool that splits an image to fixed-size blocks and produces a low-resolution detection mask image by classifying each sub-image.
Distance between point and line	Calculates the shortest distance between a line and a point or a set of points.
Divide	Divides input a by input b element by element.
Draw edges	Detects prominent edges in images.
End branch	Merges alternative processing pipelines.
End iterate	Collects results produced by an iterated part of a processing graph to a matrix or a table.
Equal	Compares a numeric value, matrix or tensor a to another numeric value, matrix or tensor b and outputs the result as a Boolean value.
Equalize histogram	Equalizes a histogram by making the gray level distribution as uniform as possible.
Estimate background color	Estimates the background color based on the corners of the image.
Expand frame	Expands or shrinks the frame by the given margin along coordinate axes.
File system watcher	A data source that outputs the path to a file or directory each time a change is detected.
Fill region	Replaces pixels inside a rectangle with a constant color.
Filter key points	Discards points whose coordinates don't fall inside a rectangular region of interest in world coordinates.
Find barcode	Finds locations of barcodes in the specified region-of-interest of the input image.
Find Line Segment	Detects the longest line segments from the input image.
Find matrix code	Finds location of a matrix code in the specified region-of-interest in the input image.
Find peaks	Finds peaks in a one-dimensional signal.
Find QR keypoints	Finds location of a QR code and returns 13 key points of the code.
Find threshold	Automatically finds a suitable threshold value for binarizing a gray-level image based on its histogram.
Fit lines	Fits lines to a point set.
Flip image	Flips an image horizontally and/or vertically.
Frame to angles	Converts the rotation matrix of a coordinate frame into Tait–Bryan angles.
Gate	Passes input parameters to outputs if and only if the enabled input is true.
Generate grid	Generates a set points that uniformly covers the pixel grid of an image.
Generate lines	Generates a set of parallel lines that are spaced apart by a constant amount in world coordinates.
Generate QR code	Generates image of a QR code which contains the given data string.
Gradient histogram	Calculates a magnitude-weighted gradient orientation histogram.
Gray level profile	Computes the gray-level profile of any rectangular region.
Greater	Compares a numeric value, matrix or tensor a to another numeric value, matrix or tensor b and outputs the result as a Boolean value.
Greater or equal	Compares a numeric value, matrix or tensor a to another numeric value, matrix or tensor b and outputs the result as a Boolean value.
Height profile	Calculates the height profile of a surface that is illuminated with stripe of light.
Histogram	Calculates the grayscale histogram of an image.
Histogram gradient	Generates an image in which the intensity of each pixel indicates the difference (histogram intersection) between histograms that are collected over rectangular areas that touch each other at the pixel.
Homography	Calculates a coordinate frame which maps one set of coordinates into another.
HSV to RGB	Converts an HSV image to RGB format.
Huemap	Sets the chromacity of a pixel in the output image according to the intensity the corresponding pixel in the input image.
Identity	Passes the input value as such.
Image corners	Projects the corners of an input image to the XY plane of the world coordinate system.
Image info	Takes in an image and outputs various information about the image.
Image sharpness	This tool gives a numeric estimate of image sharpness.
Image source	Sends image frames received from a camera.
Image to matrix	Takes in an image and outputs a matrix.
Image to tensor	Takes in an image and outputs a dense tensor in a predefined format.
Input external data	Reads data from a supported data source and pushes it to analysis.
Invert colors	Inverts the intensity of each color channel.
Invert matrix	Inverts the input matrix.
JavaScript	Runs user-defined JavaScript code in the processing pipeline.
Join images	Joins two or more images to a single, possibly bigger image.
Join matrices	Joins multiple input matrices or tables to a single output matrix or table.
Keypoint histogram	Calculates the gray-level histogram around a set of key points.
Less	Compares a numeric value, matrix or tensor a to another numeric value, matrix or tensor b and outputs the result as a Boolean value.
Less or equal	Compares a numeric value, matrix or tensor a to another numeric value, matrix or tensor b and outputs the result as a Boolean value.
Line-line intersection	Calculates the points where lines, half-lines or line segments intersect.
Linear filter	Applies a linear filter to images.
List directory	Lists files in a directory.
Local binary patterns histogram	Calculates a histogram of local binary patterns (LBP) in an image.
Local binary patterns transform	Converts each pixel of an input image to a local binary pattern (LBP) code.
Logical AND	Performs logical AND operation on inputs a and b.
Logical OR	Performs logical OR operation on inputs a and b.
Logical XOR	Performs logical XOR operation on inputs a and b.
Map gray levels	Maps pixels in the input image to new values in output image according to a lookup table.
Mask image	Applies a binary mask to the input image.
Match contours	Matches arbitrary boundary shapes using boundary shape detection and rigid 2D matching.
Match key points	A superclass for tools that match objects based on key point coordinates and their associated feature descriptors.
Match rigid 2D object	Matches key points with the RANSAC algorithm using a geometric model that allows a proper rigid transformation and scaling in two dimensions.
Match textures	Matches textures using texture detection and rigid 2D matching.
Matching compound	A compound tool that contains a key point detector and a matcher.
Matrix code detection mask	A compound tool that splits an image to fixed-size blocks and produces a low-resolution detection mask image by classifying each sub-image.
Matrix code probability	Calculates the probability that a matrix code is present in an image patch.
Matrix info	Takes in a matrix and outputs various information about the matrix.
Matrix to image	Converts a matrix to an image.
Matrix to tensor	Converts a matrix to a tensor.
Max	Finds the maximum value of the elements of a matrix or a tensor.
Mean	Calculates the arithmetic mean of the elements of a matrix or a tensor.
Measure dwell time	Measures the time a tracked object is seen.
Measure gap widths	Measures gap widths using a gray-level profile.
Measure speed	Measures the speed of objects represented by coordinates in points input.
Median filter	Applies a median filter to input images.
Min	Finds the minimum value of the elements of a matrix or a tensor.
Monochromatize image	Changes the colors of an image so that it only contains tones of a single color.
Multiply	Multiplies the inputs element by element.
Multiply matrices	Multiplies the matrices at inputs a and b.
Nearest neighbor classifier	Implements the (k) nearest neighbors classification algorithm.
Negate	Negates a numeric or Boolean value, matrix or tensor.
Normalize histogram	Normalizes a histogram so that it sums up to a constant value.
Normalize mean gray level	Normalizes an image so that its local average is approximately constant everywhere.
Not equal	Compares a numeric value, matrix or tensor a to another numeric value, matrix or tensor b and outputs the result as a Boolean value.
Output external data	Writes data to a data link device.
Perspective transform	Calculates a coordinate frame (homography) that maps a quadrilateral defined by the corner points points1 into a quadrilateral defined by the corner points points2 in projective geometry.
Pixel coordinates to world	Projects pixel coordinates to world coordinates.
Position camera	Calculates the position of a matrix camera with respect to the world coordinate system.
Position line-scan camera	Calculates the position of a line-scan camera with respect to the world coordinate system.
Postprocess boundary	A specialized tool used by boundary shape detection to subsample and join boundaries for shape context calculation.
Power	Raises the elements in input a to the powers given in input b element by element.
Process YOLO results	Converts the output tensor of a YOLO deep learning model to generally usable data types.
Product	Calculates the product of the elements of a matrix or a tensor.
Profile to image	Generates an image out of any number of one-dimensional signals such as height or gray-level profiles.
Project to virtual view	Creates a new view of the world as if looked through a virtual window.
Prune matches	Removes matches that have overlapping bounding boxes or too low confidences.
Put objects in array	This tool creates an array out of a configurable number of elements.
Quantize non-uniformly	Given a list of limits in ascending order, finds the smallest limit that is not smaller than the input value and outputs its zero-based index.
Read barcode	Reads value of a barcode from a bounding box specified by frame and size.
Read barcode along a line	Reads value of a barcode along a line specified by start and end points.
Read digital input	Reads the value of an input channel in a remote I/O device.
Read image file	Reads an image from file and outputs it either as a raw compressed image or as a decoded, processable image.
Read matrix code	Reads various formats of matrix codes (2D barcodes).
Read video file	Reads a video file and outputs the frames as RGB images.
ReadFileTool	Reads the contents of a file as a binary blob.
Region corners	Converts a region (coordinate frame and size) to a set of corner points.
Replace coordinate frame	Replaces the coordinate frame of the input image with a new coordinate frame without modifying pixels.
Reshape tensor	Creates a new tensor that points to the same data as the input tensor, but has a different layout.
RGB to HSV	Converts an RGB image to HSV format.
Rotate image	Rotates an image about its principal point.
Run ONNX model	Runs a machine learning model stored in the ONNX format.
Sample colors	Calculates average of color channels in the given region of interest.
Save image	Writes images into files.
Scale image	Scales an image.
Separate color channels	Separates a color image to components, each represented by a gray-level image.
Serialize inputs	Takes in a configurable number of asynchronous input events and outputs them using the first-in-first-out principle.
Serialize object	Takes in an object and serializes it to a binary blob.
Set color channel	Sets a color channel in a color image.
Set intensity range	Scales or clamps the gray levels or color channels of an image into a given range.
Shape context	Calculates the shape context descriptor for a set of points that describe the shape of an object.
Simplify polyline	Reduces the number of vertices in a polyline or polygon.
Sort rows	Sorts matrices and tables according to a key.
Std	Calculates the standard deviation of the elements of a matrix or a tensor.
Submatrix	Extracts a part of a matrix or a table.
Subtract	Subtracts input b from input a element by element.
Subtract images	Subtracts a reference image from another image and outputs the difference.
Sum	Calculates the sum of the elements of a matrix or a tensor.
Synchronize inputs	Receives data from multiple asynchronous sources and outputs the received objects in synchronization with the trigger input.
Tensor info	Takes in a tensor and outputs various information about the tensor.
Tensor to classification	Given a tensor representing classification results, outputs the indices of accepted classes and the corresponding tensor values.
Tensor to image	Converts a tensor to an image.
Tensor to matrix	Converts a tensor to a matrix.
Timer	Produces time stamps.
Track moving objects	This tool takes in a set of points representing the locations of an arbitrary number of moving object at a time instant.
Transform coordinates	Transforms point coordinates to/from a coordinate frame.
Translate and rotate frame	Translates and rotates a coordinate frame or a point to a new location and orientation.
Transpose matrix	Transposes the input matrix.
Unary function	A base class for functions that have a single input parameter.
Unwarp cylinder	Unwarps a cylindrical surface so that it appears flat.
Variance	Calculates the variance of the elements of a matrix or a tensor.
Vector to image	Converts a one-dimensional array of numbers to a gray-level image.
World coordinates to pixels	Projects world coordinates to pixel coordinates.
Write digital output	Writes a value to an output channel in a remote I/O device.
Write file	Writes the input data into a new file or appends the data to an existing file.
Write log	Writes a line of text to log.
Write to database	Writes data to a table in an SQL database.