Developing a modular image processing system under UNIX

results o f an ongoing student project to create the softw are for a m odular general purpose digital im age p rocessing system suited to our departm ent's needs. The system serves a variety o f purposes. It is intended for use as a laboratory resource in conjunction with coursew ork as well as aid ing independen t research p ro jec ts in im age processing and com puter vision. In order to be effective as a laboratory resource, the system m ust have capabilities that arc both flex ib le and easy to use. M odular com ponents functioning like tools o r filters allow for the flexibility needed in a learning environm ent. For independent research p ro jec ts , it should provide a consistent set o f general u tilities that reduce the w orkload involved in experim entation. C onsequently , it is desirable to have a softw are system that is h ighly m odular and w hose com ponents can be used as tools in various com binations for specific tasks. M odularity provides ease o f use in that prospective users need to leam only about those com ponents that they need or desire to em ploy. M odifiability and increm ental expansion also resu lt from the use o f m odularity in the system. Other system s have been developed along these lines [1]. In short, an im age processing system in the sense that we intend it is a co n c is lcn t env ironm en t fo r the m anagem ent, storage, and p rocessing o f digital im age flics. The system was designed and developed for the departm ent's Hewlett Packard 9000 running HP-UX, a proprietary version o f the UNIX operating system. The UNIX environm ent offers a num ber o f advantages in realiz ing the staled objectives. One o f these advantages is the ability to reduce overhead by using processing pipes. The use o f software p ipelines in image processing is a generally accepted concept [2], Shell scripting also aids in the com bination of m odules that work together. Currently our progress has been focused on basic file m anipulation and upon some basic processing functions. We plan to add softw are to perform other standard image convolu tions such as the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), as well as creating piped prefilters to adjust file form ats. A lthough progress has been made on creating an im age p rocessing system for use at Furm an U niversity , there is certainly a great deal o f work yet to be d o n e .