Previously we have been able to track motion using color detection.  This motion tracking works best with bright vivid colors such as red.  This has very limited uses because you are only able to track objects of a very specific shade of color that can easily be lost in a busy background.  Over the past couple of days generic motion tracking over a static image was programmed and operated successfully. 

            This new motion tracking is achieved by taking a picture of the environment the camera is placed in.  After the picture is taken, the program recognizes when there is a difference is the video being recorded versus the image already taken and identifies that as motion.  This works far better than the color tracking program and was a big achievement.

            In order to have the motion tracking run smoother we added more image noise.  This allowed smaller amounts of motion to be detected and at the same time the image processing was much smoother.

            Finally, a final version of the ProEngineer model of the laser mount was created.  Two holes of the side were added to allow for screws to tighten and fasten the laser in the mount.  This model will be sent shortly to the rapid prototyping machine to create a plastic piece to place the laser in.  A screen shot of this is directly below.

Final laser mount model