JP2003052251A - Seedling sorter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To carry out seedling sorting of high accuracy while young seedlings is prevented from being damaged by collapse of ridge soil, by allowing a CCD camera to move without movement of cell trays in the vertical and transverse directions. SOLUTION: When seedlings are sorted, the CCD camera 29 is moved so that it may meet face-to-face prescribed 4 cells 24a among the cell trays 24 and the seedlings 22 vertically planted in the cells 24a are photographed with the CCD camera as a block unit per every 4 cells. The image information is taken from the CCD camera 29 into a personal computer 32 to recognize the images of the seedlings 22 vertically planted in the cells and discriminate the quality of the seedlings. When a defective seedling is detected, a nozzle 36 integrally fixed to the CCD camera 29 is moved to the cell on which the defective seedling stands and suck off by vacuum the defective seedling together with the ridge soil from the cell.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a seedling selection device, and more particularly, to a seedling selection device that determines whether a seedling is good or bad from image information of a seedling planted in a cell and removes a defective seedling from the cell.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Due to the recent gardening boom and urban greening, demand for flower bed seedlings and vegetable seedlings is rapidly increasing, but in the background of the aging of agricultural workers and cost reduction,
There is a demand for labor saving and automation of seedling production work.

Under such circumstances, it is indispensable for the producer to reduce the seedling production cost in order to reduce the seedling production cost when producing the flora and vegetable seedlings at the seedling stage. . For example, in the case of flowers, there are single-flowered and double-flowered flowers as the forms of flowers. Of these, the single-flowered ones have no market value and only the double-flowered flowers are sold. However, almost half of the single-flowered seeds are mixed in the stock seeds, and the seeds cannot be selected in the seed state. For this reason, producers select seedlings by capturing the characteristics of germinated cotyledons.

Since a great deal of labor is required to carry out this sorting work by hand, an attempt to automatically sort and remove defective seedlings by image-processing the growing condition of the seedlings has been made, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-. It is proposed in Japanese Patent No. 75450.

According to this conventional technique, the cell tray containing the seedlings is conveyed, and the temporary planting pot is set parallel to the conveying direction.
When the seedlings are individually transported to each temporary planting pot from the cell tray in the middle of transportation, the seedlings are imaged by the image sensor before the temporary planting and the image processing is performed to detect the growing state of the seedlings. Only good seedlings are temporarily planted.

[0006]

In order to accurately evaluate the quality of seedlings based on the circularity, saturation, size, etc. of the seedlings in this kind of seedling sorting apparatus, image processing is performed. It is known that a considerable number of pixels are required.
However, according to the above-mentioned conventional technique, in the case where one or half of the cell tray is obtained by the camera at one time,
Since the number of pixels per seedling is insufficient, accurate evaluation cannot be performed, and when a camera having a large number of pixels is prepared, the device becomes expensive.

The present invention has been made in order to solve such a problem, and an object thereof is to move seedling imaging means without moving the cell tray vertically and horizontally to prevent damage of seedlings due to collapse of soil. It is an object of the present invention to provide a seedling discriminating device that enables high-precision seedling selection based on high-quality seedling information while preventing it.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention provides a cell tray (a cell tray in which a large number of cells (24a) in which seedlings (22) are planted are arranged in a matrix. In a seedling selection device (10) having 24), the quality of a seedling (22) planted in the cell (24a) on the cell tray (24) is determined, and a defective seedling is removed from the cell (24a). An image capturing the seedlings that have been planted in the cell (24a) by moving the cell tray (24) so as to face the predetermined plurality of cells (24a) and using the predetermined plurality of cells (24a) as a block unit. Means (28)
And an image processing means (32) for recognizing the seedling (22) planted in the cell (24a) based on the image information from the image pickup means (28) to determine the quality of the seedling, and the image. Seedling removal means (34) for removing the defective seedlings for each cell in a state where the defective seedlings discriminated by the processing means (32) are movable on the cells in which the defective seedlings are planted and face the cells (24a). )
And are provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the image pickup means (2
8) is attached to a linear driving device (26) having a guide rail (26a) and reciprocates in a direction substantially orthogonal to the moving direction of the cell tray (24) to move the plurality of cells (24a). It is characterized in that an image is taken in block units.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the image pickup means (2
8) is an image sensor (2) capable of recognizing the seedling (22).
9) and a lighting device (30) capable of projecting light onto the seedling (22)
And having.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the image sensor (29) is arranged on the center side in the moving direction, and the illumination devices (30) are arranged on both sides of the image sensor (29). And

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the image pickup means (2
8) and the seedling removing means (34) are integrally attached to the linear drive device (26).

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the seedling removing means (34) is a tubular member (36) whose longitudinal direction is vertically oriented.
And the lower end of the tubular member (36) is attached to each of the cells (24
It is a means for sucking and removing the defective seedlings together with the cultivating soil by vacuuming in the state facing a).

[Operation] According to the present invention having the above structure, the cell tray (24) is moved so as to face the predetermined plurality of cells (24a), and the predetermined plurality of cells (24a) are used as a block unit for the cells. An image pickup means (28) for picking up an image of the seedling (22) planted in (24a), and an image processing means (32) for judging whether the seedling (22) is good or bad based on the image information from the image pickup means (28). Therefore, it is possible to obtain a high-quality seedling image based on a sufficient number of pixels and accurately determine whether the seedling is good or bad.

The image pickup means (28) and the seedling removing means (3)
Since 4) and the cell tray move so as to face the cell, and the cell tray (24) itself does not move vertically and horizontally,
The damage of seedlings due to the collapse of the soil is prevented.

The above-mentioned reference numerals in parentheses are for the purpose of comparing the drawings, and do not limit the structure of the present invention.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a seedling sorting device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view thereof. The seedling selection device 10
A carrier conveyor 18 is arranged above the frame base 16 which is movably or fixedly supported by the casters 12 or the support base 14. The carrier conveyor 18 is arranged above the frame base 16 so as to surround the carrier conveyor 18. The frame 20 is erected.

The transfer conveyor 18 has a belt 23 wound between sprockets 19 and 21 which are spaced apart from each other in the front-rear direction, and a transfer motor 25 for driving the belt 23. It is movable intermittently in the left-right direction of FIG. This transport conveyor 18 has seedlings 22
A cell tray 24 in which a large number of cells 24a in which are planted is arranged in a matrix is placed.

In the present embodiment, image pickup means for moving the cell tray 24 so as to face the predetermined plurality of cells 24a and picking up an image of the seedlings planted in the cells 24a with the predetermined plurality of cells 24a as a block unit, An image processing unit that recognizes the seedlings planted in the cells 24a based on the image information from the imaging unit and determines whether the seedlings are good or bad.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, a single-axis robot (a linear driving device) having a guide rail 26a extending in a direction substantially orthogonal to the conveying direction of the conveyer 18 is provided in the middle of the gate frame 20 in the height direction. ) 26 is attached.

Further, the single-axis robot 26 is moved so as to face the predetermined plurality of cells 24a of the cell tray 24, and the seedlings 22 planted in the cells 24a are imaged by using the predetermined plurality of cells 24a as a block unit. The image pickup means 28 is attached. The image pickup means 28 has a CCD camera (3 CCD color camera) 29 capable of recognizing the seedling 22 as an image sensor, and an illumination lamp (illumination device) 30 capable of projecting light onto the seedling 22. Camera 29
The illumination lamp 30 is attached to the single-axis robot 26 so as to be movable along the guide rail 26a.

The CCD camera 29 has a plurality of cells 24a in block units, in this embodiment, four cells 24a in block units, and the CCD camera 29 is located above the four cells 24a so that they face the four cells 24a. Go to
The seedlings 22 planted in these four cells 24a are imaged. In this way, by imaging the seedlings 22 with the four cells 24a as a block unit, it is possible to obtain a high-quality seedling image based on a sufficient number of pixels. The CCD camera 29 is arranged on the center side in the moving direction along the guide rail 26a, and on the left and right sides of the CCD camera 29,
The illumination lamps 30 and 30 are attached respectively.

Further, at the lower part of the frame base 16, the C
The image information from the CD camera 29 is taken in, the seedlings 22 planted in the cells 24a are recognized based on this image information, and the seedlings 22 are good or bad from the viewpoints of the size, shape, saturation, etc. of the seedlings 22. A personal computer (image processing means) 32 for discriminating between is provided.

The single-axis robot 26 includes a personal computer 32.
The seedling removing means 34 is attached to the cells 24a in which the defective seedlings determined by the above are freely movable, and removes the defective seedlings in each cell 24a in a state of facing each cell 24a.

The seedling removing means 34 has a nozzle (cylindrical member) 36 whose longitudinal direction is oriented vertically, a hose 37 connected to the nozzle 36, and a suction valve 38 arranged in the middle of the hose 37. And a suction device 40 for sucking and removing the defective seedlings together with the soil by vacuum. The hose 37 is supported while being placed on the left and right support arms 20a that are provided so as to project substantially horizontally from the gate frame 20 along the transport direction of the transport conveyor 18.

Further, the single-axis robot 26 is provided with a movable rail 31 slidably along a guide rail 26a. The movable rail 31 is integrally formed with the movable rail 31, and the seedling removing guide 27 and the lamp guide. 33 is fixed (see FIGS. 1 and 2). The nozzle 36 is supported by an air cylinder 42 attached to the seedling removal guide 27 so as to be able to move up and down.

As shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b), an air cylinder 42 is attached to the seedling removing guide 27, and the air cylinder 42 has its longitudinal direction oriented vertically and the operating rod 42b. It is installed with the upside. Two opposed seedling guards 44 are integrally hung on the lower left and right sides of the cylinder portion 42a of the air cylinder 42.

The seedling guard 44 has a slender parallelogram with a slender top view when viewed from the front, and its left and right opposing widths are the lengths (one pitch) of one side of each cell 24a that is a square in plan view.
And are arranged to face each other at substantially the same interval. This seedling guard 44 is moved to the cell 24a as the CCD camera 29 moves.
By moving the seedlings 22 close to or in contact with the upper surface of the seedlings, the seedlings 22 adjacent to each other in the direction orthogonal to the moving direction are prevented from being damaged by being caught, and the sucking of the adjacent seedlings 22 due to vacuum is prevented.

The air cylinder 42 and the nozzle 36 are
The upper end of the operating rod 42b is integrally fixed by a bracket 46. Therefore, the operating rod 42
The nozzle 36 also moves up and down in accordance with the expansion and contraction operation of b, and the up and down amount is about 150 mm in this embodiment.

As a kind of the seedling 22, for example, when a flowering seedling is used as a target for selection, the producer visually selects the seedling mainly because the leaf color, shape and size of the cotyledons are used as indexes. To be able to capture these features,
Also in this embodiment, the CCD camera 29 takes an image and the personal computer 32 performs image processing. In the image processing, first, the background soil and the seedling are separated and extracted by color, and the cotyledon area, circularity, and saturation are obtained.

FIGS. 4A and 4B show the image pickup means 28.
It is a figure which shows the arrangement structure of the seedling removal means 34.

In this embodiment, the CCD camera 29 and the nozzle 36 are integrally attached to the uniaxial robot 26 via the moving rail 31 and the seedling removing guide 27. Therefore, the CCD camera 29 and the nozzle 36 move integrally. That is, the CCD camera 29 and the nozzle 36 are moved so as to face the cell at the time of seedling inspection and seedling removal, and the cell tray 24 itself is not moved vertically and horizontally. Is prevented. The CCD camera 29 and the nozzle 36 may be arranged separately.

In addition, the seedling removal guide 27 has a mounting bracket 4
A CCD camera 29 is fixed via 8 and an illumination lamp 30 is fixed to the lamp guide 33 via a U-shaped tube 50. Then, as shown in FIG. 4A, from the state in which the nozzle 36 faces the upper side of the cell 24a and stands by,
When the operating rod 42b is contracted, as shown in FIG. 5, the nozzle 36 descends and stops at a position close to or in contact with the upper surface of each cell 24a.

Further, as an arrangement configuration of each member, as shown in FIG. 6, an image pickup means 28 and a seedling removing means 34 are sequentially arranged along a moving rail 31, an illumination lamp 30, a CCD camera 29, a nozzle 36, and an illumination. Since the lamps are arranged like the lamps 30, the weight balance of them as a whole is maintained.
Further, in FIG.
1, the CCD camera 29 and the illumination lamp 30 are arranged away from the nozzle 36, so that the nozzle 36 does not interfere with the input of image information. The nozzle 36, the CCD camera 29, and the illumination lamp 30 may be attached to the opposite side of the moving rail 31 in the front-rear direction.

7 and 8, the cell tray 24 placed on the conveyor 18 is controlled to move in the X direction at the time of seedling selection (inspection) and seedling removal, and the CCD camera 29 and the nozzle 36 are set to Y. The figure shows a state in which movement is controlled in the direction.

In FIGS. 7 and 8, a large number of cells 24a in which the seedlings 22 are planted are arranged in a matrix on the cell tray 24, and the cells 24a have a square shape in plan view. Then, each cell 24a of the cell tray 24
Is 16 in the vertical direction (X direction) and 8 in the horizontal direction (Y direction)
It is housed individually.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

FIG. 9 shows an operation flowchart of the seedling selection work. In the figure, first, in the preparatory stage, the cell tray 24 is placed (set) on the conveyor 18 (S1), and then the sorting operation (inspection) by image processing is performed.
In this case, the transport conveyor 18 is vertically moved (moved in the X direction) (S2), and the cell tray 24 is transported to the inspection head position. Then, the single-axis robot 26
Is laterally moved (moved in the Y direction) (S3), and the CCD camera 29 images the seedling 22. The image information of the seedling 22 at this time is sent to the personal computer 32 and image-processed in the personal computer 32, and the quality of the seedling 22 is determined.

Next, in the seedling removing operation (suction), the conveyor 18 is vertically moved in the opposite direction (moved in the -X direction) (S4), and then the uniaxial robot 26 is moved laterally (Y direction). (S5), the nozzle 36 is vertically controlled by the air cylinder 42 (S6), and the defective seedling is removed by suction (S7).

In the present embodiment, when inspecting seedlings,
As shown in FIG. 7 described above, since the seedling 22 is imaged in units of 4 cells as a block, if the width of one cell 24a is 1 pitch, the CCD camera 29 is moved by 2 pitches in the Y direction (forward stroke). Then, the image information in units of 4 cells is input to the personal computer 32, and the quality of the seedling 22 is determined in units of 4 cells.

When the CCD camera 29 reaches the terminal end in the Y direction and the first (Y direction) inspection is completed, C
The CD camera 29 is moved in an extension in the same direction and positioned on the side of the cell tray 24. In this state, the conveyor 1
8 is moved in the X direction to convey the cell tray 24 by 2 pitches by conveyor.

Next, the CCD camera 29 is moved by 2 pitches in the-(minus) Y direction (reverse stroke) opposite to the above, and the seedlings are imaged in units of 4 cells in the same manner as described above, and the image information is obtained from the personal computer. Input into 32, and the quality of the seedling is determined.

Thereafter, in the same manner, X of the transfer conveyor 18
Direction of the CCD camera 29 and Y (and-
Repeating the reciprocating movement in the Y direction, one cell tray 2
After performing the inspection of 4, a defective seedling map is created.

Next, when the seedlings are removed, as shown in FIG. 8 described above, the conveyor 18 is operated in the reverse direction (-) until the head row of the cell tray 24 is located at the nozzle 36 for removing seedlings. ) Move in the X direction.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 10, the nozzle 36 is moved in the Y direction toward the cell 24a in which the defective seedling is planted. At this time, the nozzle 36 is in a position facing the cell 24a and is in a standby position above it, and the suction valve 38 is open. From this state, as shown in FIG. 11, the nozzle 36 is lowered so as to approach or contact the upper surface of the defective seedling cell 24a, and the suction valve 38 is closed in this approach or contact state and suction is started by vacuum. And suck the bad seedlings together with the soil.

After the removal of the defective seedlings, as shown in FIG. 12, with the nozzle 36 lowered, the suction valve 38 is opened to complete the suction. At this time, if there is another defective seedling in the same row as the cell 24a in which the defective seedling is planted, the nozzle 36 is further moved in the Y direction to remove the seedling.

When the seedling removal work for one row is completed,
The nozzles 36 are moved on the same extension of one row to be positioned on the side of the cell tray 24. In this state, the cell tray 24
Is conveyed to the next defective seedling row by conveyor. At this time, the row without defective seedlings is skipped, and then the nozzle 36 is moved in the-(minus) Y direction which is the opposite direction to the above to perform seedling removal work. Thereafter, similarly, the nozzle 36 is moved in the Y direction and-( Minus) Repeatedly remove seedlings by reciprocating in the Y direction.

After the removal work of the defective seedlings is completed, the nozzle 36 is moved to the extension of the same row to be positioned to the side of the cell tray 24, and further the cell tray 24 is moved in the X direction by the conveyor 18 to sort the seedlings. To finish.

In the present embodiment, after all the seedlings of each cell 24a of the cell tray 24 have been inspected, the conveyor 18 is moved in the reverse direction until the leading row of the cell tray 24 is located at the seedling removing nozzle 36 position. I explained the work procedure to move and remove defective seedlings, but it is not limited to this,
For example, after completing all the inspections, the work procedure may be such that the transport conveyor 18 is moved in the reverse direction (−X direction) by one pitch to remove the defective seedlings.

[0051]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image pickup means which moves so as to face a predetermined plurality of cells of the cell tray and picks up the seedlings planted in the cells by using the predetermined plurality of cells as a block unit. Based on the image information from the image pickup means, an image processing means for recognizing the seedlings planted in the cells to determine the quality of the seedlings, and a defective seedling discriminated by the image processing means on the cell planted. The seedling removing means for removing the defective seedlings in each cell in a state of facing each cell is provided, and the seedlings of a plurality of predetermined cells are imaged in block units, so that sufficient pixels can be obtained. The quality of seedlings can be accurately determined based on the number of seedlings, and the cell tray is not moved vertically or horizontally, so even if the seedlings have little root growth, damage to the seedlings due to collapse of the soil can be prevented. While doing seedling selection work Ukoto can.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the image pickup means is attached to a linear driving device having a guide rail, and reciprocates in a direction substantially orthogonal to the moving direction of the cell tray to make a plurality of cells block by block. Since the image is taken, it is possible to obtain a high quality seedling image while minimizing the moving distance of the image pickup means.

According to a third aspect of the invention, the image pickup means has an image sensor capable of recognizing the seedlings and an illuminating device capable of projecting light onto the seedlings, so that a clear image can be obtained under optimal illumination. The discrimination accuracy can be improved.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the image sensor is arranged on the center side in the moving direction, and the illumination devices are arranged on both sides of the image sensor. Can also stabilize the lighting conditions.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the image pickup means and the seedling removing means are integrally attached to the linear drive device, the device structure is simple and can be manufactured at low cost.

According to a sixth aspect of the invention, the seedling removing means has a tubular member whose longitudinal direction is vertically oriented, and the defective seedling is vacuumed by vacuuming with the lower end of the tubular member facing each cell. By means of suction removal together with the cultivated soil, the seedlings can be easily replenished after the seedlings are removed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a seedling sorting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the above.

FIG. 3 (a) is a front view of a mounted state of a nozzle portion,
(B) is the side view.

4A is a front view of a CCD camera and an illumination lamp in a raised state, and FIG. 4B is a side view thereof.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a lowered state of a CCD camera and an illumination lamp.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the above.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a cell tray and a diagram showing a movement pitch of a CCD camera during inspection.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a cell tray and a diagram showing a movement pitch of a CCD camera when removing seedlings.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an operation flowchart of the present embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a state in which a nozzle faces a cell at a raised position.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a state in which a nozzle faces a cell in a lowered position to suck and remove seedlings.

FIG. 12 is a view showing a state in which the nozzle faces the cell in the lowered position and the sucking operation for seedlings is completed.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Seedling sorter 18 Conveyor 20 portal frame 22 seedlings 24 cell tray 24a cell 26 Single axis robot 26a Guide rail 28 Imaging means 29 CCD camera (image sensor) 30 Lighting lamp (lighting device) 32 PC (image processing means) 34 Seedling removal means 36 nozzles (cylindrical member) 38 Suction valve 42 Air cylinder 42b Actuating rod 44 Seedling guard 46 bracket

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Koichi Yamamoto             Shimane Prefecture Yatsuka-gun Higashi Izumo-cho Ojiyacho 667             1 Within Mitsubishi Agricultural Machinery Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kazuyoshi Nonami             Shimane Prefecture Yatsuka-gun Higashi Izumo-cho Ojiyacho 667             1 Within Mitsubishi Agricultural Machinery Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yoshikazu Umeno             Shimane Prefecture Yatsuka-gun Higashi Izumo-cho Ojiyacho 667             1 Within Mitsubishi Agricultural Machinery Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 2B027 NB01 ND03 XA11

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. Having a cell tray in which a large number of cells in which seedlings have been planted are arranged in a matrix, the quality of the seedlings planted in the cells on the cell tray is determined, and defective seedlings are removed from the cells. In the seedling selection device, an image pickup unit that moves so as to face the predetermined plurality of cells of the cell tray and picks up an image of the seedlings planted in the cells by using the predetermined plurality of cells as a block unit; Image processing means for recognizing the seedlings planted in the cells based on the image information and determining the quality of the seedlings, and a defective seedling discriminated by the image processing means are movable on the planted cells. And a seedling removing unit that removes the defective seedling for each cell in a state of facing each of the cells. 2. The image pickup means is attached to a linear drive device having a guide rail, and reciprocates in a direction substantially orthogonal to a moving direction of the cell tray to pick up the plurality of cells in block units. The seedling selection device according to claim 1, wherein 3. The seedling selection device according to claim 2, wherein the imaging unit includes an image sensor capable of recognizing the seedling and an illumination device capable of projecting light onto the seedling. 4. The seedling selection device according to claim 3, wherein the image sensor is arranged on the center side in the moving direction, and the illumination devices are arranged on both sides of the image sensor, respectively. 5. The seedling selection device according to claim 2, wherein the image pickup means and the seedling removal means are integrally attached to the linear drive device. 6. The seedling removing means has a tubular member whose longitudinal direction is vertically oriented, and the defective seedling is sucked together with the soil by vacuuming with the lower end of the tubular member facing each cell. It is a means to remove, The seedling selection apparatus of Claim 5 characterized by the above-mentioned.