diff --git a/app/src/main/java/com/quillstudios/pokegoalshelper/ml/YOLOInferenceEngine.kt b/app/src/main/java/com/quillstudios/pokegoalshelper/ml/YOLOInferenceEngine.kt
index 4294a11..02aa9c3 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/com/quillstudios/pokegoalshelper/ml/YOLOInferenceEngine.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/java/com/quillstudios/pokegoalshelper/ml/YOLOInferenceEngine.kt
@@ -501,27 +501,8 @@ class YOLOInferenceEngine(
             // Step 2: Apply slight noise reduction (Ultralytics uses this)
             val denoised = Mat()
             
-            // Ensure proper format for bilateral filter
-            val processed_mat = when
-            {
-                letterboxed.type() == CvType.CV_8UC3 -> letterboxed
-                letterboxed.type() == CvType.CV_8UC4 ->
-                {
-                    val converted = Mat()
-                    Imgproc.cvtColor(letterboxed, converted, Imgproc.COLOR_BGRA2BGR)
-                    letterboxed.release()
-                    converted
-                }
-                letterboxed.type() == CvType.CV_8UC1 -> letterboxed
-                else ->
-                {
-                    // Convert to 8-bit if needed
-                    val converted = Mat()
-                    letterboxed.convertTo(converted, CvType.CV_8UC3)
-                    letterboxed.release()
-                    converted
-                }
-            }
+            // Ensure proper BGR format
+            val processed_mat = ensureBGRFormat(letterboxed)
             
             // Apply gentle smoothing (more reliable than bilateral filter)
             if (processed_mat.type() == CvType.CV_8UC3 || processed_mat.type() == CvType.CV_8UC1)
@@ -628,17 +609,7 @@ class YOLOInferenceEngine(
      */
     private fun preprocessOriginalStyle(inputMat: Mat): Mat
     {
-        val resized = Mat()
-        try
-        {
-            Imgproc.resize(inputMat, resized, Size(config.inputSize.toDouble(), config.inputSize.toDouble()))
-        }
-        catch (e: Exception)
-        {
-            Log.e(TAG, "❌ Error in original preprocessing", e)
-            inputMat.copyTo(resized)
-        }
-        return resized
+        return safeResize(inputMat, Size(config.inputSize.toDouble(), config.inputSize.toDouble()))
     }
 
     /**
@@ -686,20 +657,8 @@ class YOLOInferenceEngine(
      */
     private fun matToTensorArray(mat: Mat): Array<Array<Array<FloatArray>>>
     {
-        // Convert to RGB
-        val rgb_mat = Mat()
-        if (mat.channels() == 4)
-        {
-            Imgproc.cvtColor(mat, rgb_mat, Imgproc.COLOR_BGRA2RGB)
-        }
-        else if (mat.channels() == 3)
-        {
-            Imgproc.cvtColor(mat, rgb_mat, Imgproc.COLOR_BGR2RGB)
-        }
-        else
-        {
-            mat.copyTo(rgb_mat)
-        }
+        // Convert to RGB using utility method
+        val rgb_mat = ensureRGBFormat(mat)
         
         try
         {
@@ -743,6 +702,102 @@ class YOLOInferenceEngine(
         return parseNMSOutput(flat_output, originalSize.width.toInt(), originalSize.height.toInt(), INPUT_SIZE)
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Utility methods for common preprocessing operations
+     */
+    
+    /**
+     * Safely convert Mat to BGR format (3-channel) if needed
+     */
+    private fun ensureBGRFormat(inputMat: Mat): Mat
+    {
+        return when (inputMat.type())
+        {
+            CvType.CV_8UC3 -> inputMat
+            CvType.CV_8UC4 ->
+            {
+                val converted = Mat()
+                Imgproc.cvtColor(inputMat, converted, Imgproc.COLOR_BGRA2BGR)
+                converted
+            }
+            CvType.CV_8UC1 ->
+            {
+                val converted = Mat()
+                Imgproc.cvtColor(inputMat, converted, Imgproc.COLOR_GRAY2BGR)
+                converted
+            }
+            else ->
+            {
+                val converted = Mat()
+                inputMat.convertTo(converted, CvType.CV_8UC3)
+                converted
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    
+    /**
+     * Safely perform Mat operation with fallback
+     */
+    private inline fun <T> safeMatOperation(
+        operation: () -> T,
+        fallback: () -> T,
+        errorMessage: String
+    ): T
+    {
+        return try
+        {
+            operation()
+        }
+        catch (e: Exception)
+        {
+            Log.e(TAG, "❌ $errorMessage", e)
+            fallback()
+        }
+    }
+    
+    /**
+     * Utility function to ensure Mat is in RGB format for ONNX model input
+     */
+    private fun ensureRGBFormat(inputMat: Mat): Mat
+    {
+        return when (inputMat.channels())
+        {
+            3 ->
+            {
+                val converted = Mat()
+                Imgproc.cvtColor(inputMat, converted, Imgproc.COLOR_BGR2RGB)
+                converted
+            }
+            4 ->
+            {
+                val converted = Mat()
+                Imgproc.cvtColor(inputMat, converted, Imgproc.COLOR_BGRA2RGB)
+                converted
+            }
+            else -> inputMat // 1-channel or other formats pass through
+        }
+    }
+    
+    /**
+     * Safe resize operation with fallback
+     */
+    private fun safeResize(inputMat: Mat, targetSize: Size): Mat
+    {
+        return safeMatOperation(
+            operation = {
+                val resized = Mat()
+                Imgproc.resize(inputMat, resized, targetSize)
+                resized
+            },
+            fallback = {
+                val fallback = Mat()
+                inputMat.copyTo(fallback)
+                fallback
+            },
+            errorMessage = "Error resizing image"
+        )
+    }
+
     /**
      * Data class for transformed coordinates
      */