Development of image filing and processing system for contact surface

An image filing and processing system in which a 16-bit personal computer is used has been developed. A contact surface is observed with a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera and the image is digitized as an image data file of 256 kB. Image data of the contact surface are recorded on a hard-disk in the form of a relational database. The data can be searched easily and immediately with some keywords, such as contact materials, polarity, a value of load current, and other experimental conditions. As an example of the application of the image processing system, automatic measurement of the area of the contact surface covered with products due to arc discharge has been done.<>