Method of sorting baggage at an airport with optimized video-encoding
A method of sorting baggage at an airport, which method comprises acquiring a plurality of digital images (IN) of a piece of baggage, which piece of baggage carries an unambiguous identification label bearing textual information about a flight, the method further comprising video coding in which a computer unit automatically detects the presence of characteristic elements of the unambiguous identification label in the digital images, computes a score for each of the digital images on the basis of a count of the characteristic elements, ranks the images as a function of their respective scores, and displays the images on a screen ( 132 ) as a function of the ranking.
1. A method of sorting baggage at an airport, comprising:
acquiring a plurality of digital images of a piece of baggage that are taken from different viewpoints, the piece of baggage carrying an unambiguous identification label bearing textual information about a flight, and
video coding, wherein, in the video coding, a computer unit automatically detects a presence of characteristic elements of the unambiguous identification label in the plurality of digital images of the piece of baggage, computes a score for each of the plurality of digital images based on a count of the characteristic elements detected in each of the plurality of digital images, ranks the plurality of digital images as a function of their respective scores, and displays the ranked plurality of digital images on a screen as a function of the ranking.
2. The sorting method according to claim 1 , wherein the computer unit makes a selection of the images based on their respective scores and displays the images of the selection first on the screen to an operative.
3. The sorting method according to claim 2 , wherein the computer unit displays the images of the selection simultaneously on the screen.
4. The sorting method according to claim 2 , wherein the computer unit displays the images of the selection sequentially on the screen based on their respective scores.
5. The sorting method according to claim 4 , wherein the computer unit displays on the screen an enlargement of a region of interest including one of the characteristic elements detected in one of the plurality of digital images.
6. The sorting method according to claim 5 , wherein the characteristic elements detected in the one of the plurality of digital images are chosen from among a bar code, an IATA airport code, a flight number, and a date of a flight.
7. The sorting method according to claim 6 , wherein information that is retrieved from a database is used to compute the scores for each of the plurality of digital images.
8. The sorting method according to claim 7 , wherein the computer unit also displays on the screen information retrieved from a flights database, from among the information retrieved from the flights database the operative chooses the information retrieved from the flights database that the operative enters into the computer unit.
9. The sorting method according to claim 8 , wherein the computer unit also displays on the screen information retrieved from a baggage database, from among the information retrieved from the baggage database the operative chooses the information retrieved from the baggage database that the operative enters into the computer unit.
10. The sorting method according to claim 1 , wherein the computer unit displays on the screen an enlargement of a region of interest including one of the characteristic elements detected in one of the plurality of digital images.
11. The sorting method according to claim 1 , wherein the characteristic elements detected in the one of the plurality of digital images are chosen from among a bar code, an IATA airport code, a flight number, and a date of a flight.
12. The sorting method according to claim 1 , wherein information that is retrieved from a database is used to compute the scores for each of the plurality of digital images.
13. The sorting method according to claim 1 , wherein the computer unit also displays on the screen information retrieved from a flights database, from among the information retrieved from the flights database the operative chooses the information retrieved from the flights database that the operative enters into the computer unit.
14. The sorting method according to claim 1 , wherein the computer unit also displays on the screen information retrieved from a baggage database, from among the information retrieved from the baggage database the operative chooses the information retrieved from the baggage database that the operative enters into the computer unit.
15. The sorting method according to claim 2 , wherein the computer unit displays on the screen an enlargement of a region of interest including one of the characteristic elements detected in one of the plurality of digital images.
16. The sorting method according to claim 2 , wherein the characteristic elements detected in the one of the plurality of digital images are chosen from among a bar code, an IATA airport code, a flight number, and a date of a flight.