.. _hough_lines: Hough Line Transform ********************* Goal ===== In this tutorial you will learn how to: * Use the OpenCV functions :hough_lines:`HoughLines <>` and :hough_lines_p:`HoughLinesP <>` to detect lines in an image. Theory ======= .. note:: The explanation below belongs to the book **Learning OpenCV** by Bradski and Kaehler. Hough Line Transform --------------------- #. The Hough Line Transform is a transform used to detect straight lines. #. To apply the Transform, first an edge detection pre-processing is desirable. How does it work? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ #. As you know, a line in the image space can be expressed with two variables. For example: a. In the **Cartesian coordinate system:** Parameters: :math:`(m,b)`. b. In the **Polar coordinate system:** Parameters: :math:`(r,\theta)` .. image:: images/Hough_Lines_Tutorial_Theory_0.jpg :alt: Line variables :align: center For Hough Transforms, we will express lines in the *Polar system*. Hence, a line equation can be written as: .. math:: y = \left ( -\dfrac{\cos \theta}{\sin \theta} \right ) x + \left ( \dfrac{r}{\sin \theta} \right ) Arranging the terms: :math:`r = x \cos \theta + y \sin \theta` #. In general for each point :math:`(x_{0}, y_{0})`, we can define the family of lines that goes through that point as: .. math:: r_{\theta} = x_{0} \cdot \cos \theta + y_{0} \cdot \sin \theta Meaning that each pair :math:`(r_{\theta},\theta)` represents each line that passes by :math:`(x_{0}, y_{0})`. #. If for a given :math:`(x_{0}, y_{0})` we plot the family of lines that goes through it, we get a sinusoid. For instance, for :math:`x_{0} = 8` and :math:`y_{0} = 6` we get the following plot (in a plane :math:`\theta` - :math:`r`): .. image:: images/Hough_Lines_Tutorial_Theory_1.jpg :alt: Polar plot of a the family of lines of a point :align: center We consider only points such that :math:`r > 0` and :math:`0< \theta < 2 \pi`. #. We can do the same operation above for all the points in an image. If the curves of two different points intersect in the plane :math:`\theta` - :math:`r`, that means that both points belong to a same line. For instance, following with the example above and drawing the plot for two more points: :math:`x_{1} = 9`, :math:`y_{1} = 4` and :math:`x_{2} = 12`, :math:`y_{2} = 3`, we get: .. image:: images/Hough_Lines_Tutorial_Theory_2.jpg :alt: Polar plot of the family of lines for three points :align: center The three plots intersect in one single point :math:`(0.925, 9.6)`, these coordinates are the parameters (:math:`\theta, r`) or the line in which :math:`(x_{0}, y_{0})`, :math:`(x_{1}, y_{1})` and :math:`(x_{2}, y_{2})` lay. #. What does all the stuff above mean? It means that in general, a line can be *detected* by finding the number of intersections between curves.The more curves intersecting means that the line represented by that intersection have more points. In general, we can define a *threshold* of the minimum number of intersections needed to *detect* a line. #. This is what the Hough Line Transform does. It keeps track of the intersection between curves of every point in the image. If the number of intersections is above some *threshold*, then it declares it as a line with the parameters :math:`(\theta, r_{\theta})` of the intersection point. Standard and Probabilistic Hough Line Transform ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ OpenCV implements two kind of Hough Line Transforms: a. **The Standard Hough Transform** * It consists in pretty much what we just explained in the previous section. It gives you as result a vector of couples :math:`(\theta, r_{\theta})` * In OpenCV it is implemented with the function :hough_lines:`HoughLines <>` b. **The Probabilistic Hough Line Transform** * A more efficient implementation of the Hough Line Transform. It gives as output the extremes of the detected lines :math:`(x_{0}, y_{0}, x_{1}, y_{1})` * In OpenCV it is implemented with the function :hough_lines_p:`HoughLinesP <>` Code ====== .. |TutorialHoughLinesSimpleDownload| replace:: here .. _TutorialHoughLinesSimpleDownload: http://code.opencv.org/svn/opencv/trunk/opencv/samples/cpp/houghlines.cpp .. |TutorialHoughLinesFancyDownload| replace:: here .. _TutorialHoughLinesFancyDownload: http://code.opencv.org/svn/opencv/trunk/opencv/samples/cpp/tutorial_code/ImgTrans/HoughLines_Demo.cpp #. **What does this program do?** * Loads an image * Applies either a *Standard Hough Line Transform* or a *Probabilistic Line Transform*. * Display the original image and the detected line in two windows. #. The sample code that we will explain can be downloaded from |TutorialHoughLinesSimpleDownload|_. A slightly fancier version (which shows both Hough standard and probabilistic with trackbars for changing the threshold values) can be found |TutorialHoughLinesFancyDownload|_. .. code-block:: cpp #include "opencv2/highgui/highgui.hpp" #include "opencv2/imgproc/imgproc.hpp" #include using namespace cv; using namespace std; void help() { cout << "\nThis program demonstrates line finding with the Hough transform.\n" "Usage:\n" "./houghlines , Default is pic1.jpg\n" << endl; } int main(int argc, char** argv) { const char* filename = argc >= 2 ? argv[1] : "pic1.jpg"; Mat src = imread(filename, 0); if(src.empty()) { help(); cout << "can not open " << filename << endl; return -1; } Mat dst, cdst; Canny(src, dst, 50, 200, 3); cvtColor(dst, cdst, CV_GRAY2BGR); #if 0 vector lines; HoughLines(dst, lines, 1, CV_PI/180, 100, 0, 0 ); for( size_t i = 0; i < lines.size(); i++ ) { float rho = lines[i][0], theta = lines[i][1]; Point pt1, pt2; double a = cos(theta), b = sin(theta); double x0 = a*rho, y0 = b*rho; pt1.x = cvRound(x0 + 1000*(-b)); pt1.y = cvRound(y0 + 1000*(a)); pt2.x = cvRound(x0 - 1000*(-b)); pt2.y = cvRound(y0 - 1000*(a)); line( cdst, pt1, pt2, Scalar(0,0,255), 3, CV_AA); } #else vector lines; HoughLinesP(dst, lines, 1, CV_PI/180, 50, 50, 10 ); for( size_t i = 0; i < lines.size(); i++ ) { Vec4i l = lines[i]; line( cdst, Point(l[0], l[1]), Point(l[2], l[3]), Scalar(0,0,255), 3, CV_AA); } #endif imshow("source", src); imshow("detected lines", cdst); waitKey(); return 0; } Explanation ============= #. Load an image .. code-block:: cpp Mat src = imread(filename, 0); if(src.empty()) { help(); cout << "can not open " << filename << endl; return -1; } #. Detect the edges of the image by using a Canny detector .. code-block:: cpp Canny(src, dst, 50, 200, 3); Now we will apply the Hough Line Transform. We will explain how to use both OpenCV functions available for this purpose: #. **Standard Hough Line Transform** a. First, you apply the Transform: .. code-block:: cpp vector lines; HoughLines(dst, lines, 1, CV_PI/180, 100, 0, 0 ); with the following arguments: * *dst*: Output of the edge detector. It should be a grayscale image (although in fact it is a binary one) * *lines*: A vector that will store the parameters :math:`(r,\theta)` of the detected lines * *rho* : The resolution of the parameter :math:`r` in pixels. We use **1** pixel. * *theta*: The resolution of the parameter :math:`\theta` in radians. We use **1 degree** (CV_PI/180) * *threshold*: The minimum number of intersections to "*detect*" a line * *srn* and *stn*: Default parameters to zero. Check OpenCV reference for more info. b. And then you display the result by drawing the lines. .. code-block:: cpp for( size_t i = 0; i < lines.size(); i++ ) { float rho = lines[i][0], theta = lines[i][1]; Point pt1, pt2; double a = cos(theta), b = sin(theta); double x0 = a*rho, y0 = b*rho; pt1.x = cvRound(x0 + 1000*(-b)); pt1.y = cvRound(y0 + 1000*(a)); pt2.x = cvRound(x0 - 1000*(-b)); pt2.y = cvRound(y0 - 1000*(a)); line( cdst, pt1, pt2, Scalar(0,0,255), 3, CV_AA); } #. **Probabilistic Hough Line Transform** a. First you apply the transform: .. code-block:: cpp vector lines; HoughLinesP(dst, lines, 1, CV_PI/180, 50, 50, 10 ); with the arguments: * *dst*: Output of the edge detector. It should be a grayscale image (although in fact it is a binary one) * *lines*: A vector that will store the parameters :math:`(x_{start}, y_{start}, x_{end}, y_{end})` of the detected lines * *rho* : The resolution of the parameter :math:`r` in pixels. We use **1** pixel. * *theta*: The resolution of the parameter :math:`\theta` in radians. We use **1 degree** (CV_PI/180) * *threshold*: The minimum number of intersections to "*detect*" a line * *minLinLength*: The minimum number of points that can form a line. Lines with less than this number of points are disregarded. * *maxLineGap*: The maximum gap between two points to be considered in the same line. b. And then you display the result by drawing the lines. .. code-block:: cpp for( size_t i = 0; i < lines.size(); i++ ) { Vec4i l = lines[i]; line( cdst, Point(l[0], l[1]), Point(l[2], l[3]), Scalar(0,0,255), 3, CV_AA); } #. Display the original image and the detected lines: .. code-block:: cpp imshow("source", src); imshow("detected lines", cdst); #. Wait until the user exits the program .. code-block:: cpp waitKey(); Result ======= .. note:: The results below are obtained using the slightly fancier version we mentioned in the *Code* section. It still implements the same stuff as above, only adding the Trackbar for the Threshold. Using an input image such as: .. image:: images/Hough_Lines_Tutorial_Original_Image.jpg :alt: Result of detecting lines with Hough Transform :align: center We get the following result by using the Probabilistic Hough Line Transform: .. image:: images/Hough_Lines_Tutorial_Result.jpg :alt: Result of detecting lines with Hough Transform :align: center You may observe that the number of lines detected vary while you change the *threshold*. The explanation is sort of evident: If you establish a higher threshold, fewer lines will be detected (since you will need more points to declare a line detected).