Active motion detection and object tracking

In this paper we describe a two stage active vision system for tracking of a moving object which is detected in an overview image of the scene; a close-up view is then taken by changing the frame grabber´s parameters and by a positional change of the camera mounted on a robot´s hand. With a combination of several simple and fast working vision modules, a robust system for object tracking is constructed. The main principle is the use of two stages for object tracking: one for the detection of motion and one for the tracking itself. Errors in both stages can be detected in real time; then, the system switches back from the tracking to the motion detection stage. Standard UNIX interprocess communication mechanisms are used for the communication between control and vision modules. Object-oriented programming hides hardware details