A component type automatic distinguishing method that automatically distinguishes a type of a component by processing a component image captured by a camera, the method comprising: a power spectrum image creation process for creating a power spectrum image from the component image using a fast Fourier transform; a higher-order local auto-correlation (HLAC) characteristic extraction process for calculating an HLAC characteristic from the power spectrum image in order to extract a periodic characteristic of the power spectrum image; a connector component distinguishing process for distinguishing whether the component is a connector component having leads using the higher-order local auto-correlation characteristic, wherein, in the connector component distinguishing process, it is distinguished whether the component is a connector component with leads by learning a characteristic amount of the higher-order local auto-correlation characteristic using a support vector machine; and a component type distinguishing process for extracting characteristic data of the component from the component image captured by the camera, comparing the extracted characteristic data with reference characteristic data of multiple types of component registered in a database, and distinguishing a type of component for which the extracted characteristic data and the reference characteristic data match most closely, wherein a connector component with leads is distinguished from an odd form component by performing the power spectrum image creation process, the HLAC characteristic extraction process, and the connector component distinguishing process for a component image distinguished as an odd form component by the component type distinguishing process, wherein the component type distinguishing process is performed before the power spectrum image creation process. a power spectrum image creation process for creating a power spectrum image from the component image using a fast Fourier transform; a higher-order local auto-correlation (HLAC) characteristic extraction process for calculating an HLAC characteristic from the power spectrum image in order to extract a periodic characteristic of the power spectrum image; a connector component distinguishing process for distinguishing whether the component is a connector component having leads using the higher-order local auto-correlation characteristic, wherein, in the connector component distinguishing process, it is distinguished whether the component is a connector component with leads by learning a characteristic amount of the higher-order local auto-correlation characteristic using a support vector machine; and a component type distinguishing process for extracting characteristic data of the component from the component image captured by the camera, comparing the extracted characteristic data with reference characteristic data of multiple types of component registered in a database, and distinguishing a type of component for which the extracted characteristic data and the reference characteristic data match most closely, wherein a connector component with leads is distinguished from an odd form component by performing the power spectrum image creation process, the HLAC characteristic extraction process, and the connector component distinguishing process for a component image distinguished as an odd form component by the component type distinguishing process, wherein the component type distinguishing process is performed before the power spectrum image creation process.