Application of Shape Analysis Techniques for the Classification of Vehicles

One of the main tasks of the statistical traffic analysis is its rating due to the size, type or number of axles. A typical method for measuring the volume of traffic along with the initial classification is based on data derived from inductive sensors and load cells. The possibilities of such a system are however limited, therefore in recent years a great interest in machine vision systems can be observed. An interesting image analysis technique that allows a rapid classification of the types of vehicles observed from the side view is the shape analysis. It can be applied for binary images, for which the values of shape descriptors such as e.g. Feret's diameter can be calculated, as well as some additional quantities such as the center of gravity determined for greyscale images. The article presents the results of the shape analysis obtained for different types of vehicles observed from the camera placed beside the road.