cat recognition by webcam, what software to use?

cdwijs · 2011-12-30 11:05:37

Hi All,

I have four different cats, witch are all on a different diet. I would like to automatically feed them while I'm away.
The cats all have different colors (one gray, one black, one with non-white stripes, and one with stripes with white.

I was thinking to use a webcam, and some pattern recognition software to figure out if the correct cat is in position, and if the cat is alone. Then I could use some sort of mechanic to open the lid of the correct food bowl.

Does anybody know such software?
Best regards,

Cedric

Last edited by cdwijs (2011-12-30 11:42:35)

brebs · 2011-12-30 13:26:32

ZoneMinder, presumably.

Trilby · 2011-12-30 13:41:07

This seems to be a useless use of cat! ;o)

cdwijs · 2011-12-30 14:14:49

Trilby wrote:

This seems to be a useless use of cat! ;o)

Um, I don't know why you link to this article. Are you saying this is an overly complicated idea? Do you have another suggestion?

Best regards,
Cedric

cdwijs · 2011-12-30 14:16:25

brebs wrote:

ZoneMinder, presumably.

I have looked into zoneminder. This can generate an alarm when a cat is near the foodbowl, but it cannot see which cat it is. Thanks for the suggestion, but its not the complete solution yet.

Best regards,
Cedric

cdwijs · 2011-12-30 14:37:03

Is it possible to adjust license plate recognition software so it recognises cats instead?
I found this piece of software (haven't tested it yet)

http://www.dexmac.com/index.php/softwar … egatewayqt

Best regards,
Cedric

Awebb · 2011-12-30 15:04:03

cdwijs wrote:

Um, I don't know why you link to this article. Are you saying this is an overly complicated idea? Do you have another suggestion?

No, I don't think he was. "Useless use of cat" is a common Linux admin running gag. There is the cli tool 'cat', that can be used to output text to a pipe, which is unecessary 90% of the time. Every time a cat of whatever form is mentioned in a serious conversation about Linux admin activities, someone will come and place such a link or comment eventually.

Trilby · 2011-12-30 15:04:50

Cedric, it was just a joke. I'll try harder next time. I can't help with the recognition software.

cdwijs · 2011-12-30 15:24:04

I've just found openCV. It looks promising, but very complicated. I hope somebody already has made something I can use for this purpose:
http://www.shervinemami.co.cc/openCV.html

Mayne the shirt color application is enough.

Best regards,
Cedric

lunarscape · 2011-12-30 15:44:31

cdwijs wrote:

I've just found openCV. It looks promising, but very complicated.

OpenCV is fantastic but rather complex and requires a lot of knowledge to use correctly. Check out here for more suggestions.

The easiest way to do this in my opinion is to use RFID. It's how we do it in farming when we want to separate animals for feeding. You'll need to have unique RFID tags on each cat and a reader linked to a gate and feeding mechanism. For inspiration check out how it's done with cattle.

cdwijs · 2011-12-30 15:54:39

Lunarscape, Thanks for your list.
Here I see somebody has created an application for an automatic dog door using openCV and a haar identifier:
http://www.prodigyproductionsllc.com/ar … ncv-and-c/

I have thought about RFID. All my 4 cats are chipped, so they already have RFID transponders. I don't know how reliable I can read out the tags, as they are inside the cat. Secondly I need 4 RFID readers. I don't know how expensive they are. Maybe you are right. It could be RFID is the way to go.

best regards,
Cedric

ewaller · 2011-12-30 16:21:53

How about building a scale they have to cross. Not only could you identify the cat, you could tailor the amount of food if their mass is not nominal.

cdwijs · 2011-12-30 16:36:36

ewaller wrote:

How about building a scale they have to cross. Not only could you identify the cat, you could tailor the amount of food if their mass is not nominal.

Wonderfull idea, but the weigths of the casts are too close together to figure out who is who.

lifeafter2am · 2011-12-30 19:08:38

Personally I would go the RFID method, especially since your cats are already chipped. You can pick up a decent RFID reader for pretty cheap these days, and you should be able to read the tags from 3"-6", which should be plenty of distance. Plus, it should be simpler than OpenCV (at least in theory ).

In leau of that, OpenCV is probably going to be the way to go. I only tinkered with it before .... powerful, but also a steep learning curve.

radiomist · 2012-01-01 22:17:13

I would use http://www.openframeworks.cc/, is like openCV but more easy

Or maybe a Machine Learning, like Neural Network

Last edited by radiomist (2012-01-01 22:17:56)

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#1 2011-12-30 11:05:37

cat recognition by webcam, what software to use?

#2 2011-12-30 13:26:32

Re: cat recognition by webcam, what software to use?

#3 2011-12-30 13:41:07

Re: cat recognition by webcam, what software to use?

#4 2011-12-30 14:14:49

Re: cat recognition by webcam, what software to use?

#5 2011-12-30 14:16:25

Re: cat recognition by webcam, what software to use?

#6 2011-12-30 14:37:03

Re: cat recognition by webcam, what software to use?

#7 2011-12-30 15:04:03

Re: cat recognition by webcam, what software to use?

#8 2011-12-30 15:04:50

Re: cat recognition by webcam, what software to use?

#9 2011-12-30 15:24:04

Re: cat recognition by webcam, what software to use?

#10 2011-12-30 15:44:31

Re: cat recognition by webcam, what software to use?

#11 2011-12-30 15:54:39

Re: cat recognition by webcam, what software to use?

#12 2011-12-30 16:21:53

Re: cat recognition by webcam, what software to use?

#13 2011-12-30 16:36:36

Re: cat recognition by webcam, what software to use?

#14 2011-12-30 19:08:38

Re: cat recognition by webcam, what software to use?

#15 2012-01-01 22:17:13

Re: cat recognition by webcam, what software to use?

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