Fast visual recognition of Scots pine boards using template matching

• We test three different template matching algorithms for wood recognition.
• We evaluate the lower limit of resolution for our recognition method to work.
• The proposed board recognition method had 99–100% matching accuracy.
• The recognition method had low sensitivity to different parameters.
• The recognition method was simple in concept and fast.

This paper describes how the image processing technique known as template matching performs when used to recognize boards of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). Recognition of boards enables tracking of individual boards through an industrial process, which is vital for process optimization.A dataset of 886 Scots pine board images were used as a database to match against. The proposed board recognition method was evaluated by rescanning 44 of the boards and matching these to the larger dataset. Three different template matching algorithms have been investigated while reducing the pixel densities of the board images (downsampling the images). Furthermore, the effect of variations in board length has been tested and the computational speed of the recognition with respect to the database size has been measured. Tests were conducted using the open source software package OpenCV due to its highly optimized code which is essential for applications with high production speed.The conducted tests resulted in recognition rates above 99% for board lengths down to 1 m and pixel densities down to 0.06 pixels/mm. This study concluded that template matching is a good choice for recognition of wooden board surfaces.