{{task/realazthat |name=Hough transform |type= |description=

Implement the [[wp:Hough transform|Hough transform]], which is used as part of feature extraction with digital images. It is a tool that makes it far easier to identify straight lines in the source image, whatever their orientation.

The transform maps each point in the target image, $(\backslash rho,\backslash theta)$, to the average color of the pixels on the corresponding line of the source image (in $(x,y)$-space, where the line corresponds to points of the form $x\backslash cos\backslash theta\; +\; y\backslash sin\backslash theta\; =\; \backslash rho$). The idea is that where there is a straight line in the original image, it corresponds to a bright (or dark, depending on the color of the background field) spot; by applying a suitable filter to the results of the transform, it is possible to extract the locations of the lines in the original image.

[[Image:Pentagon.png|thumb|Sample PNG image to use for the Hough transform.]] The target space actually uses polar coordinates, but is conventionally plotted on rectangular coordinates for display. There's no specification of exactly how to map polar coordinates to a flat surface for display, but a convenient method is to use one axis for $\backslash theta$ and the other for $\backslash rho$, with the center of the source image being the origin.

There is also a spherical Hough transform, which is more suited to identifying planes in 3D data. |algorithms= }}