JP3546233B2 - Sugarcane tree head identification device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an apparatus for identifying impurities contained in an object using, for example, an optical means, and in particular, sorts and removes a sugarcane canopy harvested by a harvester in a sugar-making process or the like, and removes a sugarcane canopy for removing. It relates to an identification device.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In general, methods for harvesting sugarcane include a method of harvesting manually and a method of harvesting with a harvester called a harvester or the like. Of these methods, the former method of manual harvesting can separate and harvest the sugarcane canopy head from the stem, but the amount of harvest is limited due to the manual operation.
[0003]
On the other hand, in the latter method of harvesting with a harvester, the degree of freedom of the cutting mechanism of the harvester is low, and it is not possible to harvest only the top of the sugarcane from the stalk, so that the harvested sugarcane contains sugar raw material. In many cases, the cut canopy head is mixed in the stem part. The starch contained in the sugarcane canopy head inhibits the crystallization of sucrose in the sugar-making process and causes a reduction in the product yield of sugar. Therefore, it is necessary to separate and remove the starch before pressing.
[0004]
Such separation and removal operations are mainly performed manually, and high cost is required, so automation is desired. Nowadays, as an attempt to automate the separation and removal work, there are methods of irradiating infrared rays and measuring the sugar content based on the reflectance to detect the low sugar content of the canopy head. Methods for separating the stem and the canopy head have been studied.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, there are various problems for putting the above-mentioned conventional technology into practical use.
[0006]
That is, in the above-described method of measuring the sugar content contained by the reflectance of infrared rays and detecting the head portion with a low sugar content, low processing speed is a problem.
[0007]
In the above-mentioned method of separating sugarcane into a water tank and separating the stem and the canopy head with a specific gravity difference, wastewater treatment and low separation accuracy are problematic.
[0008]
The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and aims at separating the cane heads of sugarcane harvested with a harvester quickly and with high accuracy after harvesting without the problem of waste disposal, It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for identifying a sugarcane canopy head in a sugar-making process for removing sugar and improving a product yield of sugar.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, an apparatus for identifying a sugarcane canopy head according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a light projecting unit that projects light on sugar cane, and a light projecting by the light projecting unit on the sugar cane. Light receiving means for receiving the back reflected light and outputting a light receiving signal, performing predetermined signal processing on the light receiving signal from the light receiving means, and identifying means for identifying a sugarcane canopy head based on the obtained light receiving pattern. And
[0010]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0011]
According to the present invention, the cut surface of the sugarcane is scanned with laser light, and the reflected light is received to read the light receiving pattern. That is, only the head is identified from the difference in the light receiving pattern based on the difference in the form and surface roughness of the stem and the head.
[0012]
Hereinafter, an embodiment will be described in detail based on such features.
[0013]
First, FIG. 1 shows and describes a basic configuration of a sugarcane tree head identification device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a mirror 5 is provided on the optical path of the laser light 4 projected by the laser light source 3.
[0014]
The mirror 5 is rotatable about a rotation shaft 11.
[0015]
A conveyor 2 for conveying the sugarcane 1 is movably provided on an optical path of the light reflected by the mirror 5. In FIG. 1, the conveyor 2 is movable in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface from the back to the front.
[0016]
It is more preferable that the surface of the conveyor 2, that is, the surface on which the sugarcane 1 is mounted, be coated with a paint that hardly reflects light or covered with a member that hardly reflects light.
[0017]
As the laser light source 3, a green laser light source having a high reflectance on a sugarcane surface is suitable, but is not limited to this.
[0018]
The mirror 5 is located on the optical path of the backward reflected light 6 from the sugarcane 1 mounted on the conveyor 2. An optical sensor 7 is provided on the optical path of the light reflected by the mirror 5. As the optical sensor 7, an avalanche photodiode with high sensitivity and quick response is suitable, but is not limited to this.
[0019]
An output of the optical sensor 7 is connected to an input of a signal processing unit 9 via an amplifier 8. Note that a general-purpose computer may be employed as the signal processing unit 9. In addition to the above, a light shielding plate 10 is provided to prevent light reflected on the surface of the sugarcane 1 or the conveyor 2 from directly entering the optical sensor 7.
[0020]
In addition to the light shielding plate 10, it is of course better to separately provide a light shielding plate or the like for preventing external light from entering the optical sensor 7.
[0021]
In the above configuration, the sugarcane 1 to be detected is mounted on the conveyor 2 and transported. Then, in the transporting process, the laser light 4 emitted from the laser light source 3 is reflected by the mirror 5 and then applied to the cut surface of the sugarcane 1. Of the light reflected on the cut surface of the sugarcane 1, the component reflected in the opposite direction to the incident direction, that is, the backward reflected light 6, is reflected again by the mirror 5, and then guided to the optical sensor 7 to receive the light. Is done. Then, the output signal of the optical sensor 7 is amplified by a later-stage amplifier 8 and then input to a signal processing unit 9. The signal processing unit 9 performs predetermined signal processing, which will be described in detail later, and identifies the top of the head from the obtained light receiving pattern.
[0022]
Here, FIG. 2 illustrates the configuration around the mirror 5 in more detail.
[0023]
As shown in FIG. 2, the rotating shaft 11 of the mirror 5 is connected to a motor 12 via a rotary encoder 13 and a coupling 14.
[0024]
As the motor 12, a servo motor or a stepping motor capable of accurately controlling the rotation speed is suitable, but is not limited thereto.
[0025]
The angle of the mirror 5 is detected by the rotary encoder 13, and the detection result is input to the signal processing unit 9. In addition, the mirror 5 may be configured to be freely rotatable and swingable.
[0026]
Next, FIG. 3 shows an example of a scanning trajectory of the sugarcane 1 by laser light projected from the laser light source 3. When viewed from the upper surface of the conveyor 2, the laser light projected from the laser light source 3 always scans on the same straight line. However, since the sugarcane 1 moves while being mounted on the conveyor 2, the laser light relatively draws a scanning trajectory as shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, V indicates the moving direction of the conveyor, and Sa indicates the scanning locus by the laser beam.
[0027]
Here, FIG. 4 shows an example of a scanning trajectory when scanning with two laser beams using two sets of a laser light source 3, an optical sensor 7, and a mirror 5 as an improved example of the embodiment of the present invention. Will be described. In this case, scanning with laser light in two directions is performed obliquely to the moving direction of the sugarcane 1. Thereby, high-precision detection can be performed also on the sugarcane 1 mounted on the conveyor 2 in a random direction.
[0028]
By the way, in the sugarcane canopy head identification device according to the present embodiment, the position of the sugarcane 1 on the conveyor 2 is detected based on the difference in light reflectance between the surface of the sugarcane 1 and the conveyor 2, and the light receiving pattern of the reflected light is further detected. The stem and the head are distinguished from the difference.
[0029]
Hereinafter, the identification principle will be described in more detail with reference to FIG.
[0030]
As shown in the lower part of FIGS. 5A and 5B, it is assumed that the laser beam is scanned in a direction substantially perpendicular to the central axis of the columnar sugarcane 1 and that the coordinates of the laser beam are incident in the incident direction of the laser beam. The y axis is taken, and the x axis is taken in a direction perpendicular to the y axis.
[0031]
The upper part of FIGS. 5A and 5B shows the relationship between the irradiation position and the intensity of light received by the optical sensor. In general, since the stem of the sugarcane 1 has a smooth surface, the ratio of regular reflection of the irradiated light is high, and the received light intensity has a clear peak as shown in the upper part of FIG. It becomes a curve. On the other hand, in general, the top of the sugarcane 1 has a vertical streak on the surface, so that light is irregularly reflected, and the light reception intensity has a clear peak as shown in the upper part of FIG. Becomes a curve without.
[0032]
Here, the tip of the head may have a branched shape as shown in the lower part of FIG. When this part is scanned, the received light intensity becomes a divided pattern as shown in the upper part of FIG.
[0033]
The signal processing section 9 identifies the top of the sugarcane 1 by detecting the presence or absence of such a peak of the light receiving intensity (light receiving pattern).
[0034]
However, in this method, it is necessary to arrange the sugarcane 1 in a substantially constant direction. This is because, as the direction of the sugarcane 1 deviates from the direction perpendicular to the light scanning direction, the bottom side of the light receiving pattern may be widened and the identification accuracy may be reduced.
[0035]
As an extreme example, when the sugarcane 1 is placed parallel to the light scanning direction, the light receiving intensity becomes substantially constant, and the light receiving pattern shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B does not appear at all. . Therefore, a step of aligning the directions of the sugarcane 1 is required.
[0036]
In this regard, in the improved example of the embodiment described above with reference to FIG. 4, the process can be omitted by performing scanning in two directions. That is, in the improved example of the above-described embodiment, by combining data obtained by scanning in two directions and identifying, reduction in identification accuracy due to a difference in the direction of the sugarcane 1 can be reduced.
[0037]
As described above, the following advantages are obtained in the technique for identifying the cane head according to the present invention based on the peak (light receiving pattern) of the received light intensity of the reflected light obtained by projecting the laser light onto the sugar cane. is there.
[0038]
That is, firstly, when applied to the sugar production process, the processing speed is higher than the above-described conventional methods for identifying the top of the head by spectrophotometry and image processing.
[0039]
Secondly, in the above-described specific gravity difference method using water, wastewater treatment is a problem. However, since the present invention does not use consumables, there is no problem of waste treatment.
[0040]
Third, since no special device is used, it can be realized at a relatively low cost.
[0041]
As described above, if a practical identification device is provided, there is a high possibility that the sorting operation currently performed manually can be automated. Thereby, labor saving and cost reduction of the sugar production process are realized.
[0042]
【The invention's effect】
As described in detail above, according to the present invention, the sugarcane canopy cane is quickly and accurately separated and removed after harvesting without the problem of waste disposal, and the sugar product yield is reduced. And an apparatus for identifying the sugarcane canopy head in the sugar production step.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an apparatus for identifying a sugarcane canopy head according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing in detail a peripheral configuration for rotating a mirror 5;
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a scanning locus of a laser beam by the sugarcane canopy head identification device according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing scanning trajectories of laser light when scanning is performed in two directions by the sugarcane canopy head identification device according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an identification principle of the sugarcane tree head identification device according to the embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 sugarcane 2 conveyor belt 3 laser light source 4 laser light 5 mirror 6 back reflected light 7 optical sensor 8 amplifier 9 signal processing unit 10 light shielding plate 11 mirror rotation axis 12 motor 13 rotary encoder 14 coupling V conveyor movement vector Sa laser Scanning locus of light Sb Scanning locus of laser light when scanning in two directions Sc Scanning locus of laser light when scanning in two directions

Claims (4)

Light emitting means for projecting light on the sugarcane;
Light receiving means for receiving light reflected backward by the sugar cane of the light projected by the light emitting means and outputting a light receiving signal,
Applying predetermined signal processing to the light receiving signal from the light receiving means, identification means for identifying the sugarcane canopy head based on the obtained light receiving pattern,
An apparatus for identifying a sugarcane canopy head, comprising: 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the identification unit identifies the head of the sugarcane based on whether or not a peak of the light receiving intensity is present in the light receiving pattern. The sugarcane canopy head identification device according to claim 1, further comprising detecting a position of the sugarcane on the conveyor from a difference in light reflectance between a surface of the sugarcane and a conveyor that conveys the sugarcane. The light projecting means projects laser light in two directions obliquely to the moving direction of the sugarcane, and the identifying means performs a predetermined signal processing on a plurality of light receiving signals, and forms a light receiving pattern obtained by synthesis. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the head of the sugarcane is identified based on the sugarcane.

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