Apparatus, method, and program for assisting in selection of pattern element for pattern matching

1. An apparatus for assisting in selecting a pattern element from a reference image as a reference pattern element used for detecting a position of a target image relative to said reference image by pattern matching, comprising:

a pattern-element extractor for extracting a plurality of pattern elements from a reference image;

a distinguishability checker for checking whether or not one of said plurality of pattern elements is distinguishable from the other pattern elements and usable as a reference pattern element for pattern matching;

a display for displaying at least part of said reference image; and

an input part for accepting an operator's selection of a pattern element out of said plurality of pattern elements as a reference pattern element, wherein

said distinguishability checker checks whether or not a pattern element selected by said operator via said input part is distinguishable from the other pattern elements, and a result of the check is notified to said operator, wherein

when said result of check is in the negative, said input part accepts said operator's selection of another pattern element out of said plurality of pattern elements, and

said distinguishability checker checks whether or not a combination of two pattern elements selected by said operator is distinguishable from all the other combinations of two pattern elements out of said plurality of pattern elements, using a positional relationship between said two pattern elements selected by said operator.

2. An apparatus for assisting in selecting a pattern element from a reference image as a reference pattern element used for detecting a position of a target image relative to said reference image by pattern matching, comprising:

a pattern-element extractor for extracting a plurality of pattern elements from a reference image;

a distinguishability checker for checking whether or not one of said plurality of pattern elements is distinguishable from the other pattern elements and usable as a reference pattern element for pattern matching;

a display for displaying at least part of said reference image; and

an input part for accepting an operator's selection of a pattern element out of said plurality of pattern elements as a reference pattern element, wherein

said distinguishability checker checks whether or not a pattern element selected by said operator via said input part is distinguishable from the other pattern elements, and a result of check is notified to said operator, and

when said result of check is in the negative:

a) a step in which said input part accepts said operator's selection of another pattern element out of said plurality of pattern element;

b) a step in which said distinguishability checker checks whether or not a combination of two or more pattern elements selected by said operator is distinguishable from all the other combinations of the same number of pattern elements out of said plurality of pattern elements using a positional relationship among said two or more pattern elements selected by said operator, and notifies a new result of check to said operator; and

c) a step of repeating said step a) and said step b) when said new result of check is in the negative,

are performed.

3. An apparatus for assisting in selecting a pattern element from a reference image as a reference pattern element used for detecting a position of a target image relative to said reference image by pattern matching, comprising:

a pattern-element extractor for extracting a plurality of pattern elements from a reference image;

a distinguishability checker for checking whether or not one of said plurality of pattern elements is distinguishable from the other pattern elements and usable as a reference pattern element for pattern matching;

a display for displaying at least part of said reference image; and

an input part for accepting an operator's selection of a pattern element out of said plurality of pattern elements as a reference pattern element, wherein

said distinguishability checker checks whether or not each of said plurality of pattern elements is distinguishable from the other pattern elements, and

said apparatus further comprises a display controller for indicating a result of check made by said distinguishability checker in association with each pattern element displayed on said display.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3 wherein

when each of said plurality of pattern elements is determined to be non-distinguishable from the other pattern elements by said distinguishability checker, a new reference image is provided.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

said display displays a region other than a peripheral region of said reference image, and

a pattern element included in said region out of said plurality of pattern elements is a target of said operator's selection.

6. A method of assisting in selecting a pattern element from a reference image as a reference pattern element used for detecting a position of a target image relative to said reference image by pattern matching, comprising the steps of:

a) extracting a plurality of pattern elements from a reference image;

b) displaying at least part of said reference image;

c) accepting an operator's selection of a pattern element out of said plurality of pattern elements as a reference pattern element after said step b);

d) checking whether or not one out of said plurality of pattern elements is distinguishable from the other pattern elements and usable as a reference pattern element for pattern matching; wherein a check as to whether or not a pattern element selected by said operator is distinguishable from the other pattern elements is made, and a result of check is notified to said operator;

e) accepting said operator's selection of another pattern element out of said plurality of pattern elements when said result of check is in the negative; and

f) checking whether or not a combination of two pattern elements selected by said operator is distinguishable from all the other combinations of two pattern elements out of said plurality of pattern elements using a positional relationship between said two pattern elements selected by said operator.

7. A method of assisting in selecting a pattern element from a reference image as a reference pattern element used for detecting a position of a target image relative to said reference image by pattern matching, comprising the steps of:

a) extracting a plurality of pattern elements from a reference image;

b) displaying at least part of said reference image;

c) accepting an operator's selection of a pattern element out of said plurality of pattern elements as a reference pattern element after said step b);

d) checking whether or not one out of said plurality of pattern elements is distinguishable from the other pattern elements and usable as a reference pattern element for pattern matching, wherein a check as to whether or not a pattern element selected by said operator is distinguishable from the other pattern elements is made, and a result of check is notified to said operator;

g) accepting said operator's selection of another pattern element out of said plurality of pattern elements when said result of check is in the negative;

h) checking whether or not a combination of two or more pattern elements selected by said operator is distinguishable from all the other combinations of the same number of pattern elements out of said plurality of pattern elements, using a positional relationship among said two or more pattern elements selected by said operator, and notifying a new result of check to said operator; and

i) repeating said steps g) and h) when said new result of check is in the negative.

8. A method of assisting in selecting a pattern element from a reference image as a reference pattern element used for detecting a position of a target image relative to said reference image by pattern matching, comprising the steps of:

a) extracting a plurality of pattern elements from a reference image;

b) checking whether or not one out of said plurality of pattern elements is distinguishable from the other pattern elements and usable as a reference pattern element for pattern matching;

c) displaying at least part of said reference image and

d) accepting an operator's selection of a pattern element out of said plurality of pattern elements as a reference pattern element after said step c); wherein

said step b) is performed on each of said plurality of pattern elements, and

a result of the check made in said step b) is indicated in association with each pattern element displayed, in said step c).

9. The method according to claim 8 , wherein

when each of said plurality of pattern element is determined to be non-distinguishable from the other pattern elements, a new reference image is provided.

10. The method according to claim 6 , wherein

a region other than a peripheral region of said reference image is displayed in said step b), and

a pattern element included in said region out of said plurality of pattern elements is a target of said operator's selection.

11. A computer-readable medium carrying a program for causing a computer to assist an operator in selecting a pattern element from a reference image as a reference pattern element used for detecting a position of a target image relative to said reference image by pattern matching, wherein execution of said program by a computer causes said computer to perform the steps of:

a) extracting a plurality of pattern elements from a reference image;

b) displaying at least part of said reference image;

c) accepting an operator's selection of a pattern element out of said plurality of pattern elements as a reference pattern element after said step b);

d) checking whether or not one out of said plurality of pattern elements is distinguishable from the other pattern elements and usable as a reference pattern element for pattern matching, wherein a check as to whether or not a pattern element selected by said operator is distinguishable, from the other pattern elements is made, and a result of check is notified to said operator;

e) accepting said operator's selection of another pattern element out of said plurality of pattern elements when said result of check is in the negative; and

f) checking whether or not a combination of two pattern elements selected by said operator is distinguishable from all the other combinations of two pattern elements out of said plurality of pattern elements using a positional relationship among said two pattern elements selected by said operator.

12. A computer-readable medium carrying a program for causing a computer to assist an operator in selecting a pattern element from a reference image as a reference pattern element used for detecting a position of a target image relative to said reference image by pattern matching, wherein execution of said program by a computer causes said computer to perform the steps of:

a) extracting a plurality of pattern elements from a reference image;

b) displaying at least part of said reference image;

c) accepting an operator's selection of a pattern element out of said plurality of pattern elements as a reference pattern element after said step b);

d) checking whether or not one out of said plurality of pattern elements is distinguishable from the other pattern elements and usable as a reference pattern element for pattern matching, wherein a check as to whether or not a pattern element selected by said operator is distinguishable from the other pattern elements is made, and a result of check is notified to said operator;

g) accepting said operator's selection of another pattern element out of said plurality of pattern elements when said result of check is in the negative;

h) checking whether or not a combination of two or more pattern elements selected by said operator is distinguishable from all the other combinations of the same number of pattern elements out of said plurality of pattern elements, using a positional relationship among said two or more pattern elements selected by said operator, and notifying a new result of check to said operator; and

i) repeating said steps g) and h) when said new result of check is in the negative.

13. A computer-readable medium carrying a program for causing a computer to assist an operator in selecting a pattern element from a reference image as a reference pattern element used for detecting a position of a target image relative to said reference image by pattern matching, wherein execution of said program by a computer causes said computer to perform the steps of:

a) extracting a plurality of pattern elements from a reference image;

b) checking whether or not one out of said plurality of pattern elements is distinguishable from the other pattern elements and usable as a reference pattern element for pattern matching;

c) displaying at least part of said reference image;

d) accepting an operator's selection of a pattern element out of said plurality of pattern elements as a reference pattern element after said step c);

wherein said step b) is performed on each of said plurality of pattern elements, and

a result of the check made in said step b) is indicated in association with each pattern element displayed, in said step c).

14. The computer-readable medium according to claim 13 , wherein

when each of said plurality of pattern elements is determined to be non-distinguishable from the other pattern elements, a new reference image is provided by execution of said program by said computer.

15. The computer-readable medium according to claim 11 , wherein

a region other than a peripheral region of said reference image is displayed in said step b), and

a pattern element included in said region out of said plurality of pattern elements is a target of said operator's selection.

16. The apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein

said display displays a region other than a peripheral region of said reference image, and

a pattern element included in said region out of said plurality of pattern elements is a target of said operator's selection.

17. The apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein

said display displays a region other than a peripheral region of said reference image, and

a pattern element included in said region out of said plurality of pattern elements is a target of said operator's selection.

18. The method according to claim 7 , wherein

a region other than a peripheral region of said reference image is displayed in said step b), and

a pattern element included in said region out of said plurality of pattern elements is a target of said operator's selection.

19. The method according to claim 8 , wherein

a region other than a peripheral region of said reference image is displayed in said step c), and

a pattern element included in said region out of said plurality of pattern elements is a target of said operator's selection.

20. The computer-readable medium according to claim 12 , wherein

a region other than a peripheral region of said reference image is displayed in said step b), and

a pattern element included in said region out of said plurality of pattern elements is a target of said operator's selection.

21. The computer-readable medium according to claim 13 , wherein

a region other than a peripheral region of said reference image is displayed in said step c), and

a pattern element included in said region out of said plurality of pattern elements is a target of said operator's selection.