Template matching with Orb : error with batchDistance method

Question

I'm trying to detect whether a template image (logo) is present in a pdf document. The document can be either a scan encapsulated in a pdf or a "pure" pdf document, but this is completely random.

First, I convert the pdf document to a png image using ImageMagick's convert tool, then I cut the output images in half because they're so big, and after that I try to match a logo from a database with any of the shapes present in the half-cut image.

To do so, I use an Orb Feature Detector with an Orb Descriptor, and a RobustMatcher (sort of improved BruteForce matcher, source code available here). Here is a snippet of code from my adaptation of it :

// Read input images
Mat image1 = imread(argv[1], CV_LOAD_IMAGE_GRAYSCALE);
Mat image2 = imread(argv[2], CV_LOAD_IMAGE_GRAYSCALE);

if (!image1.data || !image2.data) {
    std::cout << " --(!) Error reading images " << std::endl;
    exit(1);
}

// Setting up values for ORB Detector
int nfeatures = 800;
//float scaleFactor = 1.10;
int nlevels = 8;
int edgeThreshold = 12;
int firstLevel = 0;
int WTA_K = 2;
int scoreType = 0;
int patchSize = 31;

// Prepare the matcher
RobustMatcher rmatcher;
rmatcher.setConfidenceLevel(0.98);
rmatcher.setMinDistanceToEpipolar(1.0);
rmatcher.setRatio(0.80f);
cv::Ptr<cv::FeatureDetector> pfd = new cv::OrbFeatureDetector(nfeatures, scaleFactor, nlevels, edgeThreshold, firstLevel, WTA_K, scoreType, patchSize);
rmatcher.setFeatureDetector(pfd);
cv::Ptr<cv::DescriptorExtractor> pde = new cv::OrbDescriptorExtractor();
rmatcher.setDescriptorExtractor(pde);

// Match the two images
std::vector<cv::DMatch> matches;
std::vector<cv::KeyPoint> keypoints1, keypoints2;
cv::Mat fundemental = rmatcher.match(image1, image2, matches, keypoints1, keypoints2);

// If nothing could be matched, stop here
if(matches.size() < 4){
    exit(2);
}

The code works great on some examples that I chose carefully, with a highly-recognizable logo and a clean image, with certain proportions... etc. But when I try to apply the process to random pdf files, I start to get this error from OpenCV :

OpenCV Error: Assertion failed (type == src2.type() && src1.cols == src2.cols && (type == CV_32F || type == CV_8U)) in batchDistance, file /home/das/Downloads/opencv-2.4.5/modules/core/src/stat.cpp, line 1797 terminate called after throwing an instance of 'cv::Exception' what(): /home/das/Downloads/opencv-2.4.5/modules/core/src/stat.cpp:1797: error: (-215) type == src2.type() && src1.cols == src2.cols && (type == CV_32F || type == CV_8U) in function batchDistance

Aborted (core dumped)

I checked for this error, and it appeared that src1.cols != src2.cols, and a quick fix for it would be to test the condition before trying to match the images. The problem is that I miss a lot of images doing so, and this would be OK only if I were working on a video stream... but I'm not, and the next image has nothing in common with the previous one, and I can't determine whether my logo was present or not in the document.

Here is the code from stat.cpp, lines 1789 to 1826 : (assertion is at the beginning on line 1797)

void cv::batchDistance( InputArray _src1, InputArray _src2,
                    OutputArray _dist, int dtype, OutputArray _nidx,
                    int normType, int K, InputArray _mask,
                    int update, bool crosscheck )
{
Mat src1 = _src1.getMat(), src2 = _src2.getMat(), mask = _mask.getMat();
int type = src1.type();
CV_Assert( type == src2.type() && src1.cols == src2.cols &&
           (type == CV_32F || type == CV_8U));
CV_Assert( _nidx.needed() == (K > 0) );

if( dtype == -1 )
{
    dtype = normType == NORM_HAMMING || normType == NORM_HAMMING2 ? CV_32S : CV_32F;
}
CV_Assert( (type == CV_8U && dtype == CV_32S) || dtype == CV_32F);

K = std::min(K, src2.rows);

_dist.create(src1.rows, (K > 0 ? K : src2.rows), dtype);
Mat dist = _dist.getMat(), nidx;
if( _nidx.needed() )
{
    _nidx.create(dist.size(), CV_32S);
    nidx = _nidx.getMat();
}

if( update == 0 && K > 0 )
{
    dist = Scalar::all(dtype == CV_32S ? (double)INT_MAX : (double)FLT_MAX);
    nidx = Scalar::all(-1);
}

if( crosscheck )
{
    CV_Assert( K == 1 && update == 0 && mask.empty() );
    Mat tdist, tidx;
    batchDistance(src2, src1, tdist, dtype, tidx, normType, K, mask, 0, false);

So I'm wondering what does this assertion mean ? What are exactly the src1 and src2 files in stat.cpp ? Why do they need to have the same number of columns ?

I tried changing to a Surf detector and extractor, but I still get the error.

If anyone has an idea, do not hesitate to post, I welcome any advice or notice !

Thanks in advance.

EDIT

I have a more precise question now : how do I ensure that src1.cols == src2.cols ? To answer that question, I think I should know what are the transformations applied to my cv::Mat image1 and image2 before batchDistance(...) is called, in order to find a condition on image1 and image2 which will ensure that src1.cols == src2.cols, so my code would look like this :

// Match the two images
std::vector<cv::DMatch> matches;
std::vector<cv::KeyPoint> keypoints1, keypoints2;
    if( CONDITION_ON_IMAGE1&IMAGE2_TO_ENSURE_SRC1.COLS==SRC2.COLS ){
    cv::Mat fundemental = rmatcher.match(image1, image2, matches, keypoints1, keypoints2);
    }

Answer 1

1. To get rid of errors, You can play with copying and pasting the images into empty one of required size, but this is only a quick and dirty solution for the assertion.
2. To make detector and descriptor work properly, You might have to get to know how it works. Maybe then You will be able to get images that will work. After reading this article, it looks that ORB will have problems with scaling (they mention it in the conclusion section). This means You will need to find a workaround for it (like image pyramids, or another way to check the image at multiple scales) or use another extractor and descriptor, which is scale and rotation invariant.