Abstract: A system for the automatic guidance of a vehicle along a scheduled road route, which comprises marks of varying shapes possessing respectively specific travel-function information and attached to the surface of roads in the route selected for the vehicle's travel and an ITV camera mounted on the vehicle, whereby the automatic guidance of the vehicle's travel is accomplished by causing the ITV camera to photograph successively the marks on the surface of the roads and recognize the shapes of the marks on the basis of the photographed images of the marks, conveying the travel-function information of these marks successively to the automatic steering unit of the vehicle and thereby allowing the vehicle to be accurately steered along the route.

Abstract: An apparatus for separating the signals of an internal shape from the signals of an external shape for use in a shape recognition system.

Abstract: A system for the recognition of shape patterns is disclosed which comprises reading the projection on a reference line of a shape pattern by means of a pattern input device, converting the output of the pattern input device into projection values, transferring the projection values to two stages of differential circuits, continuing the whole procedure described above while the postural angle of the shape pattern is changed until the shape pattern completes one rotation, detecting the fact that each side of the polygon of the shape pattern has fallen exactly into the direction of projection in accordance with the change in the initial value of the output from said differential circuits, causing the rotated postural angle of the shape pattern and the projection value existing at the time of said detection to be memorized and accomplishing the recognition of the shape pattern on the basis of the memorized data.

Abstract: Recognition of the approximate shape of a given article is accomplished by rotating the article by an angle of 180.degree. for thereby producing a direct projection, moving this direct projection perpendicularly onto a reference line for thereby obtaining a perpendicular projection of the article, computing the average pattern-classification value and the range of variation of pattern-classification value from the maximum and minimum ratios of the product of the largest width of the perpendicular projection of that article multiplied by the largest height thereof to the area of the article, and comparing the average pattern-classification value and the variable range with those of the reference pattern.