1. A machine vision system comprising: image acquisition means for acquiring images from three-dimensional space; means for determining the magnitude of vertical and horizontal edge element intensity components of each pixel of said image; means for converting said vertical and horizontal edge element intensity components to a first vector with a magnitude of total edge element intensity and a direction for each said pixel within said image; means for defining regions of interest within said image; means for fuzzifying said first vectors in said regions of interest to create a second vector characterizing each said region of interest; a neural network for interpreting said second vector of each said region of interest to determine a classification of said object; means for generating a signal indicative of said classification of said object; and interface means for providing an interface with external devices.