IMAGED SYMBOL CLASSIFICATION

PURPOSE: To improve the precision of the automatic recognition of the character pattern of a prescribed picture by a machine by executing the skeletonization of the picture and the correction of the inclination of the picture. CONSTITUTION: A pixel picture is formed by scanning a character to the recognized, and this picture is given scaling, and is 'purified', and is corrected in its inclination, and is skeletonized, and the line-thinned picture is formed. A picture map is formed by executing the extraction of a feature by a neural network by using this line-thinned picture, and the features are combined, and a 'higher rank (super) feature' is formed. After that, the picture is made into a block roughly, and the dimension number of a feature vector is reduced. Finally, a sorter specifies the character by the feature vector. Thus, the reliable automatic character recognition can be realized.