diff --git a/include/vision/processor/active_search.h b/include/vision/processor/active_search.h
index bdfca97a02f83ed9ee6b7055b2247a63a51330a1..bda60ffc3c9ce0778b24db4999a61feef75e7532 100644
--- a/include/vision/processor/active_search.h
+++ b/include/vision/processor/active_search.h
@@ -236,6 +236,13 @@ class ActiveSearchGrid {
          */
         void blockCell(const cv::Rect & _roi);
 
+        /**
+         * \brief Call this after pickRoi if no point was found in the roi
+         * in order to avoid searching again in it.
+         * \param _cell the cell where nothing was found
+         */
+        void blockCell(const Vector2i & _cell);
+
 
     private:
         /**
diff --git a/src/processor/active_search.cpp b/src/processor/active_search.cpp
index 76abe9f868d315edc31cc09e953053dfe15027fd..a316781a633b81766b249b7df2b8b54cd85fc09d 100644
--- a/src/processor/active_search.cpp
+++ b/src/processor/active_search.cpp
@@ -131,7 +131,12 @@ void ActiveSearchGrid::blockCell(const cv::Rect & _roi)
     pix(0) = _roi.x+_roi.width/2;
     pix(1) = _roi.y+_roi.height/2;
     Eigen::Vector2i cell = coords2cell(pix(0), pix(1));
-    projections_count_(cell(0), cell(1)) = -1;
+    blockCell(cell);
+}
+
+void ActiveSearchGrid::blockCell(const cv::Rect & _cell)
+{
+    projections_count_(_cell(0), _cell(1)) = -1;
 }