Memory Usage Keeps Increasing in Python Script Using OpenCV, PyAutoGUI, and Tesseract OCR

Question

I'm working on a Python script that continuously monitors a screen region, extracts text using Tesseract OCR, and sends serial commands to an Arduino based on the detected text. However, I notice that the memory usage keeps growing over time, even though I explicitly try to free up memory.

Any insights on potential memory leaks and how to fix them would be greatly appreciated!

import cv2
import pytesseract
import numpy as np
import pyautogui
import time
import serial
import gc
import psutil

# Set up serial connection
ser = serial.Serial('COM3', 9600, timeout=1)
time.sleep(2)

ROI = (100, 100, 200, 100)  # Example region

def capture_screen(region):
    """Captures a screenshot of a given region"""
    x, y, w, h = region
    screenshot = pyautogui.screenshot(region=(x, y, w, h))
    img = cv2.cvtColor(np.array(screenshot), cv2.COLOR_RGB2BGR)
    del screenshot
    gc.collect()
    return img

def extract_text(img):
    """Extracts text using Tesseract"""
    config = "--psm 8 -c tessedit_char_whitelist=0123456789-AS"
    text = pytesseract.image_to_string(img, config=config)
    del img  # Free memory
    gc.collect()
    return text.strip()

process = psutil.Process()

while True:
    print(f"Memory usage: {process.memory_info().rss / 1024 / 1024:.2f} MB")
    img = capture_screen(ROI)
    text = extract_text(img)
    print(f"Detected text: {text}")
    time.sleep(1)