Holes Search

[VeMo]

Hello All,

I have a pattern matching program that locates exact pattern in an image if a template image is taken from that original image. But since I am working on a project that will deal with dot peen pattern, it is not convenient to crop a template image from original image all the time because all the dot peen holes may not be exactly same (depending on the dot peen machine) and that is why system will not find all the dot peen holes. Does anyone have any other idea how to deal with this situation? Attached is image 1 of a metal plate with dot peen pattern on it. My current program can read most of the holes but not all of them because as I mentioned previously I have to take a template image from original image and then search all the holes similar to the template image. But sometimes the holes are not exactly same so the system does not find all the holes. You can see image 2 has all the holes highlighted by the system but image 3 shows some holes missing. The system is inconsistent because it is looking for exact template image in original image while I want to find all the dot peen holes regardless of the irregular shape. 

Thanks

Veeshal