firecam has a number of Video Filters that can recognize Objects by a number of characteristics like Motion, Contrast, Color Gradient etc. Regions of pixels separated by a filter can be bound into a single Target by Connectivity filters. These Targets can then be tracked by rotation of the Camera by USB-controlled Az-El Servos. firecam has a fairly effective Target Management system for keeping track of different Objects identified by a Video Filter and selecting another Target when the one being tracked is not detectable any more.

Read more details on-line or download firecam's manual.

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This is a screen shot of firecam displaying the video stream from a Point Grey Firefly MV camera. The "Islet" filter is used to detect small patches of black tape on the front of a small bookshelf in my room. Target tracking is enabled and this shows some of the patches marked with a yellow cross-thread, indicating detection. One of these patches is centered byt the tracking funtions which rotate the pan-tilt mounting of the camera to center a selected target. Click on the thumbnail for the full sized image.