label and track particles--Real time

[Zhihan321]

Hi,

1.Background

    I'm working on an optical tweezer project which I would like to control and pattern the particles (1-2 μm) under microscope with the help of CCD camera.

2.What I have already done

    (1) I can detect the particles and their pixel positions by transferring the real-time CCD camera info into binary one

    (2) I can make the stage move to one particle (unlabelled) automatically

    (3) The laser on and off is also automated.

    (4) If in the region detected CDD camera, there is only two particles, my VI could move the one particle to the other one to make a very basic assembly automatically

3. What's my problem

   But, actually, I would like to pattern the arbitrary number of particles. Right now, the solution I could bring up is to label all the particles first, and then use laser to move each particle to the design position. Briefly speaking, I choose a region first, and the ccd camera detect their N particles. I would like to label them first, and then tell particle 1 to position 1, particle 2 to position 2 and so on. 

   The key problem is that I need to move the stage to let the particles at the center of the stage first, then i could open the laser to move it. Once I move the stage, all the particles position will mess up. What make things worse is that there might be new particles exist under CCD camera when the stage move. 

   So, is there any method that I could label the particles first even I move the stage (like give them an ID card)? or if you could offer another clue to make the pattern more easier rather than label them? Thanks.

Tip:  all the particles I use right now almost have the same size and shape, i.e. identical in a way.

[WhiteA]

Zhihan321,

If you happen to be using LabVIEW Vision, you can try using IMAQ Overlay Text.vi to try and label the particles but I am unsure if the labels will stay once the particles move. I would check out this Forum Post for more detail: https://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW/How-to-label-items-in-image-display/td-p/2528352

[Zhihan321]

WhiteA,

Thanks for your reply. 

I'm trying a new method to solve my problem these days, which won't require labelling all the particles. I will also try your method recently and figure whether it will work or not. If I make any progress, I will post here. Thanks.