Fuzzy color tracking for robotic tasks

We present in this paper how to track an object by using a color cue. Color is represented as fuzzy membership functions in the CIELab color space. Integration of the fuzzy representation and CIELab color space make our tracking system robust to illumination variability. Target initialization is done in an interactive way, user selects a color target and membership functions for each coordinates are then defined. Target search is done by examining pixel intensities over a test region in the current image using a fuzzy logic rule. We have tested our approach experimentally and our system can track a colored object at rates of about 15Hz on a Pentium computer. A visual servoing system that uses our target tracking system for feature extraction has also been developed.