Hyperspectral imaging : the stuff of science coming to an automated food line near you
Vision can be deployed in a number of different ways on a food processing line to tell if food is safe to eat and meets the quality standards demanded by retailers . Now the kind of hyperspectral technology that NASA has used to study planets and plant life is being applied to the food that ends up on household plates .
For UK-based automation specialist Brillopak , the emergence of more affordable hyperspectral imaging is enabling food packing plants to leverage sci-fi kit and apply to daily operations . In addition to offering a critical quality control advantage , it helps packhouses previously reliant on EU migrant workers and experiencing staffing pressures to now automate their quality inspection process .
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Historically , quality assurance in packhouses relied extensively on human intervention - someone scanning conveyors as packs headed towards the case loading operation and spotting and removing defective or damaged product . However , there are obvious limitations to visual screening . Most notably , the human eye lacks Superman ’ s x-ray powers , while conventional cameras only see what is in the visible light spectrum .
Today ’ s hyperspectral vision systems are programmed to have a level of impartiality that human eyes just don ’ t have .
Workforce fatigue and human error has meant that on super-fast packing lines , even visible defects , such as bruising and blemishes , can pass even the most observant human inspectors by . Today ’ s hyperspectral vision systems are programmed to have a level of impartiality that human eyes just don ’ t have .
With many end-of-line packing stations now automated and processing in excess of 100 packs of produce a minute , incorporating vision is becoming increasingly commonplace . To help minimise the risk of an ‘ out-of-spec ’ product heading out of the warehouse doors and onto retailer ’ s shelves , Brillopak has begun to integrate hyperspectral imaging as an option onto its automated case loading systems ,