1311 Bluegrass Pl., Woodland, CA, United States of America, 95776
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Wine Grape Sorter - Multi Camera System Advantage
Keeping Cost Low
WECO designs and manufactures its camera / illuminator systems in-house. These systems are optimized for high speed sorting, rather than general purpose imaging. It costs more to buy off-the-shelf camera and computing systems to do the same sort while at the same time increasing complexity and reducing reliability.
Optical
To view 32” of product flow (for example) with a single camera, either the camera has to be very far away, or use high distortion “fish eye” optics to remain close. So either the machine has to be very large or the sort has to be compromised by using high distortion optics. Dividing the product flow into sections allows us to scale machines to nearly any width while maintaining a near flat field low distortion image. The height and length of our sorters and quality of the product images (and therefore sort quality) is not affected by machine width. WECO uses four cameras for a 32” wide sorter.
Resolution
A camera with the same number of pixels viewing half of the product flow will have twice the pixels covering the product. In other words, using 4 cameras to view 32” of product flow will have 4 times the lateral pixels (1/4 narrower pixel) as the same camera viewing the whole 32” of product flow. A single camera with 4 times the resolution may cost as much as 4 cameras with 1/4 the resolution.
Illumination
Light levels detected by a camera decrease by the distance to the product squared. So, being 2 times further away from the product reduces light levels by a factor of 4. The lower the light levels, the less accurate the sort. Splitting the product flow up to be viewed by multiple cameras provides a flatter image and higher signal levels. Another way of looking at this is that if the camera is 2 times farther away from the product in order to view a wider product flow, the illumination system has to provide 4 times the light to maintain the same signal levels. This greatly increases the cost to build and operate (electrical power) the sorter.
Parallel Processing
Each Chromax/HD camera module utilizes 2 high speed DSP processors. A 32” two view machine has 16 of these processors all running in parallel. This enables complex real time sort algorithms by dividing the work and greatly reducing data rates. This reduces system cost and increases system reliability. Each camera module is a complete sorter providing: calibrated structured illumination, imaging, image processing, sort algorithm execution, and reject timing.
Modular
In the unlikely event a camera does fail, the remaining cameras will continue to sort. Since the cameras are modular in design, a camera can be quickly replaced in the field without requiring system re-calibration.
About
WECO (Woodside Electronics Corporation), based in California, has been designing, manufacturing, and servicing electronic sorters for over thirty years and has thousands of units deployed worldwide. WECO serves several industries: tomato sorting on the harvester; the walnut industry; and several small fruits including, blueberries, cranberries and wine grapes.
WECO’s optical sorter for grapes uses the latest ChromaxHD optical sorting technology and advanced algorithms to efficiently remove under- and over-ripe fruit and foreign material (MOG). These features ensure vastly improved quality with increased throughput at a fraction of the price of alternative methods. Our system is also designed to be easy to understand and operate, employing intuitive controls and a touch-screen interface refined over the last 30 years.
Our wine grape sorter’s automation offers tremendous gains in productivity and labor efficiency.
Available in 32″ (81.3 cm) and 64″ (162.6 cm) width models.
Multi-Camera System Advantages
WECO designs and manufactures our camera/illuminator systems in-house specifically for high-speed sorting, which keeps costs low.
To maximize viewing of product flow, we divide the product flow into sections, which allows us to scale machines to nearly any width while maintaining a near flat-field, low-distortion image. For example, we use four cameras for a 32”-wide (81 cm) sorter.
Our resolution is superior. Using four cameras to view 32” (81 cm) of product flow offers four times the lateral pixels as a single camera viewing the same product flow.
The lower the light level, the less accurate the sort. Splitting the product flow for viewing by multiple cameras provides a flatter image and higher signal levels.
Each ChromaxHD camera module utilizes two high-speed DSP processors running in parallel, which enables real-time complex sort algorithms. This reduces system cost and increases reliability.
If a camera fails, the remaining cameras continue to sort. Since the cameras are modular, replacement is accomplished easily in the field without requiring recalibration.
Contact
Contact List
| Title | Name | Phone | Extension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bryan Chambers | bryan@wecotek.com | 530-681-1390 |
Location List
| Locations | Address | State | Country | Zip Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WECO The Science of Optical Sorting | 1311 Bluegrass Pl., Woodland | CA | United States of America | 95776 |
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