Object Recognition within Cluttered Scenes Employing a Hybrid Optical Neural Network Filter

We propose a hybrid filter, which we call the hybrid optical neural network (HONN) filter. This filter combines the optical implementation and shift invariance of correlator-type filters with the nonlinear superposition capabilities of artificial neural network methods. The filter demonstrates good performance in maintaining high-quality correlation responses and resistance to clutter to nontraining in-class images at orientations intermediate to the training set poses. We present the design and implementation of the HONN filter architecture and assess its object recognition performance in clutter.