Abstract: A three-dimensional measurement system and method for objects, such as oysters, projects one or more laser lines onto a surface on which the object is currently located. The laser lines are picked up as parallel lines by a camera where no object is located on the surface. When an object is located on the surface, the camera obtains an image that includes lines displaced from the parallel lines as a result of the lines impinging on portions of the object that have a particular height associated therewith. The displacement data allows a processor to determine the height of the object at various positions of the object can be obtained. Volume can be obtained using a binary image of the object to calculate area from the height data. The object can then be classified according to its volume.

Abstract: An object sorting system includes a product presentation device with a floating portion and a subframe pivotally connected to a frame link driven by a chain. The product presentation device and frame link operate with a latch so that the product presentation device can move objects through the system to be sorted and deposit the objects at an appropriate job station. The floating portion of the product presentation device allows accurate determination of object weights. The product presentation device can also be married to or divorced from wheels which are used to turn the object before a viewer for sorting based on visual characteristics. Because the wheels can be divorced from the product presentation device, objects can be deposited more gently in collection bins at the drop stations. The system may use belt driven or roller driven pre-singulation to assure that only one object is placed in a product presentation device.

Abstract: A bagging system that facilitates the loading of objects into a container, includes a conveyor, hopper elements, a bagging element, and a controller. The conveyor transports the objects to be loaded into the container. The hopper elements permit objects from the conveyor to be loaded into the container in a first state and prevent objects from being loaded into the container in a second state. The bagging element holds the container to be filled with the objects from the conveyor. The bagging element includes a foot element that moveably supports the container at a number of different positions. The controller connects to the conveyor, the hopper elements, and the bagging element to control their operation.

Abstract: Image processing system using cameras and image processing techniques to identify undesirable objects on roller conveyor lines. The cameras above the conveyor capture images of the passing objects. The roller background information is removed and images of the objects remain. To analyze each individual object accurately, the adjacent objects are isolated and small noisy residue fragments are removed. A spherical optical transform and a defect preservation transform preserve any defect levels on objects even below the roller background and compensate for the non-lambertian gradient reflectance on spherical objects at their curvatures and dimensions. Defect segments are then extracted from the resulting transformed images. The size, level, and pattern of the defect segments indicate the degree of defects in the object. The extracted features are fed into a recognition process and a decision making system for grade rejection decisions.

Abstract: A color sorting apparatus has a singulator section, a color sorter and a conveyor which drops the sorted objects into appropriate collection bins. Objects for sorting are transported on an endless conveyor on wheels through the singulation and color sorting section. An independently adjustable speed belt rotates in the same direction as the wheels and operates to provide a view of each of four sides of the object to an imaging device. The imaging device, such as a camera, supplies red, green and blue signals to an image processor which performs a color transformation and obtains a single composite hue value for each object or piece of fruit to be sorted. Based on a comparison of the hue value to user programmed grading criteria, signals are provided to the conveyor so that the objects are ultimately deposited in appropriate sorting bins.

Abstract: Image processing system using cameras and image processing techniques to identify undesirable objects on roller conveyor lines. The cameras above the conveyor capture images of the passing objects. The roller background information is removed and images of the objects remain. To analyze each individual object accurately, the adjacent objects are isolated and small noisy residue fragments are removed. A spherical optical transform and a defect preservation transform preserve any defect levels on objects even below the roller background and compensate for the non-lambertian gradient reflectance on spherical objects at their curvatures and dimensions. Defect segments are then extracted from the resulting transformed images. The size, level, and pattern of the defect segments indicate the degree of defects in the object. The extracted features are fed into a recognition process and a decision making system for grade rejection decisions.