VISION-BASED GRADING WITH AUTOMATIC WEIGHT CALIBRATION

摘要

Method and apparatus for grading food items, such as shrimps and chicken parts, with an automatically calibrated imaging system. Singulated food items are individually imaged. An estimated weight for each food item is computed from its image and an image-to-weight function. Calibration weighers weigh the food item individually or in batches before or after imaging. The actual weights are compared to the estimated weights to fine-tune the image-to-weight function and improve weight estimation.

主权项

1. A method for grading a food item comprising:
singulating a supply of individual food items; imaging each of the food items to produce an image of each of the food items; computing an estimated weight of each of the food items using an image-to-weight function; weighing a sample of the food items to produce an actual weight of the weighed food items in the sample; comparing the estimated weights to the actual weights; adjusting the image-to-weight function based on the comparison of estimated weights to actual weights; grading the food item into a plurality of grades.