John Barley, II
Real Estate Commission in Pittsburgh, PA

2002009, Jul 11, 2002

Jul 31, 2001

09/919452

Arthur Wetzel - Murrysville PA, US
John Gilbertson II - Pittsburgh PA, US
Jeffrey Beckstead - Valencia PA, US
Patricia Feineigle - Pittsburgh PA, US
Christopher Hauser - Pittsburgh PA, US
Frank Palmieri, JR. - Gibsonia PA, US

InterScope Technologies, Inc. - Pittsburgh PA

G06K009/00, G06K009/40, G06K009/36, G06K009/20

382/133000, 382/255000, 382/282000

An imaging apparatus is disclosed. The imaging apparatus includes a motorized stage, a camera focussed relative to the stage, and a processor coupled to the camera. The processor contains instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to capture an image incident on the camera, convert the image into a plurality of pixels having a characteristic such as intensity, establish the characteristic for each pixel; and determine which pixels contain a target image based on the characteristic of the pixels. Another imaging apparatus includes a motorized stage, a camera having a lens directed toward the motorized stage, and a processor coupled to the camera. The processor contains instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to select at least three regions of a sample adjacent the motorized stage, develop a focus surface based on a normalized distribution of the at least three selected regions, position the camera on a region of the sample, focus the camera on the surface, and capture an image of the region. In addition, an imaging apparatus having a motorized stage, a camera focussed relative to the motorized stage, a stage position sensor adjacent the motorized stage, and a pulsed light directed toward the motorized stage and coupled to the stage position sensor such that the pulsed light illuminates in response to the stage position sensor is disclosed.