The embodiments of the present invention disclose a yarn breaking detection method, and relate to the field of automatic control, wherein the broken yarn can be accurately detected in a low purchase and maintenance cost manner. The method comprises: controlling a head to move along a guide rail, wherein a CCD camera is arranged on the head, and real-timely captures video signals during the moving process along the guide rail; extracting the frame from the video signal according to a preset interval period, and detecting whether the broken yarn exists according to the extracted frame; if the broken yarn is detected according to the extracted frame, extracting the image content of the designated area from the frame including the broken yarn, wherein an identification card is arranged in the designated area; and matching and identifying the identification character represented by the identification card in the designated area through a preset image template, and sending the identified identification character to monitoring equipment. The yarn breaking detection method is suitable for the yarn breaking detection of the twisting machine.