Linear feature detectors and their application to cereal inspection

This paper extends the vectorial strategy for designing line segment detection masks to large windows, thereby permitting line segments to be detected and orientated efficiently with just two masks in a far greater number of applications than the original formulation [1]. Our own application exemplifies the value of these linear feature detectors for the purpose of locating insects in grain, and 7 × 7 masks seem well suited to this task. This work is expected to be useful in many applications where linear features have to be located, and also those where thin lines have to be tracked — as in fingerprint recognition and document interpretation.