Abstract: A modularly expansible system is disclosed for real time processing of a TV image or display, the system being particularly useful for the acquisition of coordinates of known shape objects, or objects with any shape and spatial lay, incorporating a correlation means which comprises a plurality of cascade connected stages, among which a stage adapted to parallelize a preset number of TV raster lines, at least one column delay line stage, at least one pre-adder stage, and a totalizing adder stage. The inventive system may be readily expanded by interconnecting substantially alike modules, to thus find useful industrial scale application in a range of different fields, from the medical field to robotics. It may also be easily implemented at different levels of sophisticated design to practically meet any needs for real time in-line acquisition of known shape object coordinates.

Abstract: The apparatus comprises a platform for supporting a patient to be examined and providing at least one component of the force exerted thereon by the patient, a TV camera so positioned as to pick up the image of the patient on the platform and cooperating with a monitor for displaying the picked up image in the form of a vectorial representation under the control of image processing circuitry and of a processor unit.