Method and apparatus for distinguishing different configuration states of an object based on an image representation of the object

A method of distinguishing different configuration states of an object based on an image representation of the object, the method comprising:

• acquiring original image data representing an original image comprising a picture of the object;
• detecting the object within the original image;
• determining an orientation of the detected object within the original image;
• determining within the original image a region-of-interest, ROI, representing the picture of the object at least in parts;
• generating normalized image data representing a two-dimensional normalized image by transforming the ROI of the original image based on the determined orientation of the object to a reference frame in which the ROI is represented by the normalized image with a predefined standard orientation and scaling;
• extracting one or more characteristic features of the object as represented by the normalized image data;
• and
• classifying the extracted one or more characteristic features according to a related classification scheme to determine among a set of two or more possible configuration states of the object a specific configuration state that is associated with the result of the classification;
• wherein the normalized image is a digital image and at least one of the characteristic features of the object is extracted based on histogram data, wherein the histogram data represents a histogram that associates each row of at least a subset of the rows of image points of the normalized image along a selected one of the normalized image's dimensions with a respective rate or number of object-related image points in the respective row, wherein an object-related image point is an image point that represents a respective portion of the object within the normalized image.