A real-time detection and positioning method for small and weak targets using a 1D morphology-based approach in 2D images

A small and weak target detection method is proposed in this work that outperforms all other methods in terms of real-time capability. It is the first time that two-dimensional (2D) images are processed using only one-dimensional1D structuring elements in a morphology-based approach, enabling the real-time hardware implementation of the whole image processing method. A parallel image readout and processing structure is introduced to achieve an ultra-low latency time on the order of nanoseconds, and a hyper-frame resolution in the time domain can be achieved by combining the row-by-row structure and the electrical rolling shutter technique. Experimental results suggest that the expected target can be successfully detected under various interferences with an accuracy of 0.1 pixels (1 σ ) under the worst sky night test condition and that a centroiding precision of better than 0.03 pixels (1 σ ) can be reached for static tests. The real-time detection method with high robustness and accuracy is attractive for application to all types of real-time small target detection systems, such as medical imaging, infrared surveillance, and target measurement and tracking, where an ultra-high processing speed is required.