Otsu algorithm is a widely used image segmentation method in image processing,although it has the characteristics of simple calculation and accuracy,but because of the need for exhaustive operation,the calculation efficiency is not high.In order to improve the real-time performance of image segmentation,snake optimizer(SO)is introduced to optimize Otsu,and an Otsu image segmentation method (SO-Otsu)based on snake optimization algorithm is created.In this algorithm,snake optimization algorithm is used to simulate the characteristics of snakes to find the optimal threshold,so as to reduce the iteration time and improve the calculation speed.In the simulation experiment, classic Lena,Peppers,Goldhill and Cameraman images were used for testing,Otsu method based on fruit fly optimization algorithm(FOA-Otsu)and Otsu method based on sparrow search algorithm(SSA-Otsu)were compared. PSNR,SSIM,FSIM and calculation time were calculated as evaluation indicators.The results show that compared with other algorithms,the proposed algorithm has high computational efficiency,good detail segmentation effect and excellent comprehensive segmentation performance,which provides an ideal tool for improving the computational efficiency of image segmentation