Author Archives: Patrick

WIA-Loader: Automatic tagging with AI model

I am currently working on a new function for WIA-Loader to automatically tag images during import without using an online service. Until now, WIA Loader could only do this via an external provider (Microsoft Azure Cognitive Services). The new function now loads a locally available ONNX model and lets it evaluate the imported images. The result is a list of keywords for the respective image. The quantity and quality of the keywords determined depends on the ONNX model used.

If you would like to try this out, you will need:

  • A purchased WIA-Loader license from the Microsoft Store
  • The current WIA-Loader beta version.
  • A suitable Resnet ONNX model. I have been using this one so far

In the new version there is a new import step called ‘AutoTag’. You add this to the profile and select the previously downloaded ONNX model in the step settings. Now you can test the tagging by starting an import or right-clicking on an image in the preview and selecting ‘Automatic tagging (offline)’.

With the ONNX model linked above you can get a pretty good result, but it’s still miles away from what you can get from Microsoft’s online service. I am trying to find a better model or perhaps even train my own. I could then distribute this directly with the download from WIA-Loader…..

ESP32 Radio

Another DIY project I’m currently working on is a radio based on an ESP32. I used a very cheap, old, and faulty Siemens RS-555 radio as the foundation, meaning I removed the old electronics from the radio and am now building it up piece by piece with new components. The original controls of the radio are being preserved and I’m trying to maintain the original functionality of the radio as much as possible and where it makes sense.
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XCockpit 2020

The first and at the same time last entry for this weird year is again about my external cockpit app XCockpit which i once developed for X-Plane. This year the new microsoft flight simulator (FS2020) was released, i adopted XCockpit for it and tried again to upload it to the microsoft store. This time they could not reject it and now the app is finally available for everybody from the store. It will not work with X-Plane anymore but maybe i’ll fix this with a further release.

XCockpit

One more app i am working on is ready for a first release: XCockpit

Basically the app is an external cockpit viewer for the flight sim XPlane and allows you to place some controls and display on a second pc. Unfortunately there are problems publishing it to the Microsoft Store because the app relies on third party products (XPlane) which are not available from the store.

WIA Loader Status

Even though it may not always look like this, I’m always working on my ‘WIA-Loader‘ tool. This is probably one of the projects that will never be completed. I am currently in the process of switching the program from Windows Forms to WPF, which means that I am rebuilding the entire user interface. One of the biggest advantages of this changeover is that WIA loaders can now be displayed sensibly on high-resolution screens.
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