Photonics technologies for agriculture
Professionals in the agriculture and food packaging industries know exactly how important it is to analyze , monitor and inspect food products in the packaging process .
These companies face significant challenges such as agricultural products contaminated with stones or other debris , broken or unsealed packages , mislabelled products , and spoiled produce . Fortunately , many solutions that address this are available using today ’ s technologies including SWIR , InGaAs and CCD / CMOS .
CHALLENGES IN THE QUALITY AND SAFETY OF FOOD INSPECTION
Cameras and sensors are integrated within devices designed for improving inspection , sorting and quality . These systems can identify issues in food products and packaging before they are shipped out . Vision inspection can prevent unsafe , low-quality food from reaching shelves and save businesses costs on returned defective packages .
One example is seen in coffee production , which is enhanced through machine vision . Coffee beans are placed on the tarp on the ground for drying , then raked up and put in a hopper . During this raking process , rocks or gravel can easily get mixed in with the coffee beans . These stones need to be sorted out before the beans are packaged . If stones go unnoticed and are packaged with the coffee beans , they can present sanitary issues and can cause coffee grinders to break . Machine vision can be used to distinguish between items of similar shape and size .
Placing cameras and detectors in strategic locations throughout the line will help identify materials based on their SWIR spectra , enabling distinction between coffee beans and stones .
Moisture content can greatly affect the quality and shelf life of agricultural products . The slight trace of additional moisture can indicate the start of mold . A bruise indicates that oxygen has penetrated the skin or peel and gotten into the fruit . Bruised fruit or vegetables will have brown spots and / or eventually turn completely brown . While most are safe to eat , bruised fruit is not aesthetically appealing or can be over-ripe .
For example , when apples travel down the conveyor belt , they are scanned using InGaAs and CMOS cameras . The InGaAs camera will show defects beginning to form under the skin that a human eye cannot see . The CMOS camera will show visible defects . To optimize the food sorting inspection process , different highspeed imaging devices should be placed at strategic locations on the conveyor belt . These sensors will automatically scan produce , detecting visible and invisible defects on produce that should be filtered out , so they do not reach the store .
Difficulty detecting the stone among coffee beans with visible imaging .
Clear identification of stone among coffee beans with C12741-03 InGaAs camera
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