Hardware-Software Complex for Laser Scanning in Color Sorting Machines

The paper concerns the problem of grain mixture analysis based on processing images synthesized during line-by-line scanning of each object in color sorting systems. The paper presents a hardware-software complex for sorting objects in the real time. The hardware part of the complex consists of two blocks- light source and device for reception and processing of images. The light source is a laser, passed through optical fiber and linearly expanded across the entire width of the photoseparator’s chute. Linear laser scan produces significant intensity of illumination. It is sufficient for working on the transmission of radiation through objects. The software part of the complex also consists of two blocks- the thresholding algorithm and an automated program for finding the optimal parameters of sorting on the basis of that algorithm. The algorithm calculates the number of connected defective pixels with arbitrary shape. Automated program works on the basis of pre-formed images of the objects of two classes- good and defective. As a result, the program displays in tabular form the most optimal sorting parameters. The program shows the dependence of the loss of good product from the missouts of the defective objects. The customer gets a clear choice of the most suitable sorting results. This complex was tested for sorting of unshelled rice seeds via transmission. It is shown that the complex allows to effectively detect hidden seed defects- red pigmentation, immaturity, fungal diseases, and others.