# HeatMap This function block visualizes where motion accumulates over time in a fixed field of view. It creates a color overlay showing areas with frequent movement, useful for surveillance, traffic analysis, or activity heatmapping. ## đŸ“Ĩ Inputs `Image Any` Grayscale or color image stream to analyze for motion. ## 📤 Outputs `Image Any` Color image with a heatmap overlay that highlights areas with frequent motion. ## 🕹ī¸ Controls `Threshold` Adjusts the sensitivity for foreground detection. Higher values make the block ignore small changes and focus on stronger motion. `MaxValue` Controls how much each detected motion event adds to the accumulated heatmap. Larger values increase the contribution of each event. `Alpha` Controls the weight of the original first frame when overlaying the color heatmap. Lower values make the overlay stronger. `Beta` Controls the weight of the colorized accumulated motion map when overlaying. Higher values make the heatmap more prominent. ## ⚙ī¸ Running mechanism * On first run the block captures and preserves the first frame as a background reference. * For subsequent frames it computes foreground pixels and thresholds them to detect motion events. * Detected motion pixels are accumulated into a single internal image over time. * The accumulated image is colorized and blended with the preserved first frame using the `Alpha` and `Beta` controls to produce the final overlay. * The block continues accumulating until the run is stopped or the block is reset. ## đŸŽ¯ Features * Continuous accumulation for long-term motion heatmaps. * Simple control set for balancing sensitivity and visualization strength. * Real-time overlay to see where most activity occurs in the scene. * Built-in hard reset handling to clear accumulated data between runs. ## 📝 Usage instructions 1. Feed a live camera or video frame stream into the `Image Any` input. 2. Tune `Threshold` to focus on meaningful motion and ignore noise. 3. Adjust `MaxValue` to set how strongly each event contributes to the heatmap. 4. Use `Alpha` and `Beta` to balance visibility between the original scene and the colorized heatmap. 5. Stop or reset the run when you want to clear the accumulated heatmap. ## 💡 Tips and Tricks * For live camera sources, pair this block with `Camera USB`, `Camera IP (ONVIF)`, or `Stream Reader` to feed continuous frames. * If your input frames are large and you only need an overview, add `Image Resize` before this block to reduce processing and speed up accumulation. * To focus on a specific region, crop with `Image ROI` or `Image ROI Select` before feeding frames into this block. * If you want a separate foreground mask or additional background models, try combining with `Background Subtractor` for alternative foreground detection prior to accumulation. * Use `Show Image` to preview the overlay live in the UI. * Save results periodically with `Image Logger` or record sessions with `Record Video` for post-analysis. ## 🛠ī¸ Troubleshooting * If the heatmap shows too much noise, increase `Threshold` and consider preprocessing with `Blur` or `Denoising`. * If motion areas grow too quickly, lower `MaxValue` or periodically reset the run to clear old accumulation. * If the overlay is too faint or too strong, adjust `Alpha` and `Beta` to achieve the desired visual balance. * If no motion is detected, verify the input frames are changing and are not identical; try feeding a live camera source like `Camera USB` to confirm operation. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.augelab.com/function-blocks/image-transformations/transformation-filters/heatmap.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.