Shrimp processing system and methods

摘要

Methods and systems using a vision system to process shrimp. The in-line or off-line vision system captures images of samples of shrimps. The processor produces a digital image of the shrimps in the samples. Shrimps exiting a peeler are imaged to determine the number of tail segments in or the percentage of full weight of each. The shrimps are classified by the number of intact segments, and quality, yield, and throughput computed from the classification results. The processor can control operational settings of the peeler based on the classification results. In a larger system including other shrimp-processing equipment besides the peeler, other points along the processing path can be imaged by camera or sensed by other sensors to determine processing quality and to make automatic operational adjustments to the equipment.

主权项

1. A shrimp-processing system comprising:
a conveyor conveying shrimps along a processing line; an off-line QC station having a vision system capturing digital images of sample shrimps collected from the shrimps on the conveyor; a processor determining the number of tail segments present in each of the sample shrimps or estimating the percentage of full weight of each of the sample shrimps from the digital image and classifying each of the sample shrimps into one of a plurality of classes according to the number of tail segments present in or the percentage of full weight of each of the sample shrimps.