I'm a software developer with many years experience in medicine and other science, but now am working on a project using National Instruments IMAQ softwre in .NET and have no prior experience with image processing. The only API documentation I can find is a help file intalled with the product. While this documentaiton does a good job explaining function inputs and outputs it is light on explaining in an real detail what the functions actually do. Under .NET (not my favorite but that is what I inherited), i can get a good summary of objects and their properties / methods which is helpful. I see that there is a lot of good material in this forum but what I need right now is good basic documentation. I also note a plethora of PDF files in the installation directory but have not found anything there or on ni.com which gives me the level fo detail I need. When I think of API documentation, I expect something as thorough as what Sun Microsystems delivers with any Java JDK -- it seems to me that the IMAQ API doc assumes a certain level of fluency and makes no provision for somebody like me coming with literally no background besides a lot of math (fortunately vector algebra!) and science courses in college.
Am I missing something? I see that there are a lot of example programs and I can get what want from those I suppose but I hate to charge my client for all the time it will take if there is a more ready source fo information.
Now, I realize that the field of image processing is vast and it would be difficult to develop software of this nature without a learning curve. So I
I have been studying image processing via both web queries and having purchased teh book "Digital Image Processing (Gonzalez, Woods).
More specifically, I have been zeroing in on what is needed for the task at hand: "blob detection" and "blob motion tracking". It seems pretty clear to me, based on having become familiar with the basic terminology of image processing and the methodologies which have been developed for image recognition and motion tracking, that the IMAQ software can do what is needed. At this point I can do only rudimentary things with the objects presented within .NET. It is analogous to perhaps asking a kid who just the definitio of an equilateral triangle to solve differential equations.
In this case, what I really do need is one or more sample programs which perform functions similar to what I seek to do. Are there any suggestions in this regard? My searches on ni.com have revealed some evidence of articles of "blob detection" and "blob motion" and I can see that these have been used for tasks as complex as tracking particles and counting blood components. I do not see and od not expect to see any object methods as specific as that for what I need to do -- which is actually pretty abstract -- track and graph the path of the most prominent blob of light in the acquired camera image as it moves in real time.
It is a strange sensation to have been programming for decades and then enter a field where the client's needs require me to act like a ninny who didn't do his homework. But this is the nature of the job. Any pointers will be appreciated. If I have missed something obvious I don't even mind being berated for being unobservant or lazy.
Many thanks in advance for whatever assistance may be provided.
