JPH0572140A - Evaluating device for vegetable and fruit - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To evaluate the particles of vegetables and fruits with high precision in a short time by economizing the labor by executing the automatic evaluation for the particles of the vegetables and fruits and permitting the binary value expression with a certain threshold value when the particles of the vegetables and fruits are evaluated. CONSTITUTION:Laser beam is irradiated onto the particles of the vegetables and fruits consisting of the gathering of particles (S1, S2), and the image of the vegetables and fruits is taken photograph, and the average luminance of the particle is calculated from the image (S3, S4). Then, the light quantity of the laser beam irradiated onto the vegetables and fruits is adjusted so that the calculated luminance becomes a prescribed value (S5-S8), and the prescribed image processing is carried out for the image which is taken photograph under the condition after the light quantity adjustment, and the particles of the vegetables and fruits are evaluated (S9-S11).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for evaluating fruits and vegetables, which is applied to fruits and vegetables and is particularly suitable for evaluating grains of fruits and vegetables which are composed of an aggregate of grains like grapes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, with regard to grapes and the like of fruits and vegetables which are composed of a set of grains, humans have made predetermined evaluations such as evaluation of each grain and evaluation of grain alignment by visually observing the appearance thereof.

[0003]

However, the conventional method has a drawback that it requires manual work and the work efficiency is low.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to automate the evaluation of grains of fruits and vegetables to save labor, and to perform the evaluation in a short time and with high accuracy.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a minute spot light source for irradiating a minute spot light toward a grain of a fruit or vegetable composed of an aggregate of grains, and irradiation with the minute spot light. An image pickup means for picking up the image of the fruit and vegetables, a brightness detecting means for detecting the brightness of the grains from the picked-up image, and a light amount adjusting means for adjusting the light quantity applied to the fruit and vegetables so that the detected brightness becomes a predetermined value. Under the condition that the adjustment of the amount of light is completed, the image pickup means performs predetermined image processing to evaluate the grains of fruits and vegetables.

[0006]

According to the present invention having such a configuration, the minute spot light source irradiates the grain of fruits and vegetables with the minute spot light. Then, the minute spot light is transmitted and scattered inside the grain, and the brightness of the whole grain becomes higher than that of surrounding grains. The brightness detection means detects the brightness of the particles from the image captured by the imaging means. The light quantity adjusting means adjusts the light quantity with which the grains of fruits and vegetables are irradiated so that the detected brightness becomes a predetermined value.
Therefore, when the light amount adjustment is completed, the target grain of fruits and vegetables is irradiated with a predetermined and appropriate amount of light, and the grain is differentiated from the surrounding grains.

Next, under the condition that the adjustment of the light quantity is completed, the image pickup means photographs the fruits and vegetables, and the target grain in the image has an appropriate brightness as compared with the surrounding grains. Therefore, when the evaluation means performs predetermined image processing on the basis of the photographed image to evaluate the grains of fruits and vegetables, for example, it is possible to perform binarization with a certain threshold value, and uniform processing can be performed. As a result, highly accurate evaluation can be performed in a short time.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the evaluation of the grains of fruits and vegetables can be automated to save labor, and the evaluation can be performed in a short time and with high accuracy.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a minute spot light source composed of a laser or the like, which irradiates a minute spot light through a condensing lens 3 toward a fruit or vegetable 2 composed of an aggregate of grains like a grape. From this minute spot light source 1 to the condenser lens 3
The minute spot light that is radiated to the grape via the is configured so that it can be radiated to any grain of the grape by an appropriate means (not shown). The amount of light emitted from the minute spot light source 1 is controlled by the light source controller 4 as described later.

Above the fruits and vegetables 2, a camera 5 such as a color television camera or a CCD camera is provided for photographing them.
To place. The camera 5 is connected to the input side of the image processing computer 6. The image processing computer 6 performs various types of image processing on the image captured by the camera 5 as described below. An image output device 7 including a display device and a printer is connected to the output side of the image processing computer 6.

Next, an operation example of the embodiment thus constructed will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
In addition, here, the case where the fruits and vegetables 2 to be measured are grapes will be described.

First, the grain of the grape to be evaluated is determined (step S1), and the minute spot light source 1 is directed toward the determined grain.
To irradiate laser light (step S2). Then, the laser light is transmitted and scattered inside the grain, so that the luminance of the whole grain is relatively higher than that of surrounding grains. Next, the image of the grape photographed by the camera 5 is input (step S3), and the average brightness of the grains in this image is calculated by a predetermined procedure (step S4).

Next, when the calculated average brightness is smaller than the predetermined value (step S5), a signal for increasing the light emission amount of the minute spot light source 1 is sent to the image processing computer 6.
To the light source controller 4, which causes the light source controller 4 to increase the output of the laser which is the minute spot light source 1 (step S6). On the other hand, when the calculated average brightness is larger than the predetermined value (step S7), the signal for reducing the light emission amount of the minute spot light source 1 is sent from the image processing computer 6 to the light source controller 4, which causes the light source controller 4 to operate. , The output of the laser which is the minute spot light source 1 is reduced (step S
8).

By such control, when the target grain of the grape reaches a predetermined brightness, the target grain is separated from the image photographed by the camera 5 under the condition, and the area and circularity of the grain are calculated. The shape is measured by, for example, (step S
9) and save the measurement data (step S10).
Then, when the measurement of a predetermined number of grape grains that has been planned in advance is completed (step S11), a predetermined evaluation such as grape grain evaluation and grain alignment is performed using the stored measurement data, and the above processing is performed. finish.

In the brightness distribution of the image processed in step S9, only the target grains are extremely large and the surrounding grains are small, and the target grains are differentiated from the surrounding grains. This relationship is shown in FIG. Therefore, in the image in which the target grains are differentiated in this way, the threshold value TH can be set as shown in FIG. 3, and thus the binarization processing can be unified. Therefore, the processing time for separating the target grain from the background can be shortened, and thus the entire processing time including the shape measurement can be significantly shortened.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 11 denotes a minute spot light source such as a laser, which irradiates a minute spot light such as a laser beam toward the fruit 2 through the condenser lens 13 and the reflection mirror 14. Fruits and vegetables to be irradiated 2
Is preferably composed of aggregates of grains such as grapes.
The amount of light emitted from the minute spot light source 11 is controlled by the light source controller 15 as described later. Further, the reflection direction of the reflection mirror 14, that is, the irradiation position of the grape light, is adjusted by the mirror controller 16. An illumination lamp 17 that illuminates the fruits and vegetables and forcibly causes halation as described later is arranged diagonally above the fruits and vegetables 2, and the illumination controller 18A controls the illuminance.

Directly above the fruits and vegetables 2 is a camera 1 such as a color television camera or a CCD camera for photographing them.
Place 8 The camera 18 is connected to the input side of the image processing computer 19. Image processing computer 19
Performs various image processes on the image captured by the camera 18 as described below. An image output device 20 including a display device and a printer is connected to the output side of the image processing computer 19.

The general operation of the embodiment thus constructed will be described. First, the illumination lamp 17 illuminates the grapes and the image is taken by the camera 18 to obtain the halation portion. Since this halation portion corresponds to almost the center of each grain, the minute spot light source 11 emits laser light toward the center of the grain. Then, the image emitted by the laser light is captured by the camera 1.
The image is photographed in 8 and a predetermined image processing is performed.

Next, the details of these operations will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First turn on the illumination lamp 17
N and illuminate the grapes (step S1). Next, the image of the grape photographed by the camera 18 is captured, and the position of the high-luminance portion, that is, the halation portion is confirmed from the image (step S2). This halation portion corresponds to approximately the center of each grain.

Then, after turning off the illumination lamp 17 (step S3), the barycentric position of each halation portion confirmed previously is calculated by a predetermined procedure (step S4). Subsequently, the minute spot light source 11 radiates laser light toward the grape (step S5), and the irradiation position is corrected by the following procedure so that the irradiation position becomes the center of the target grain (step S6). ).

That is, first, the image of the grape being irradiated with the laser light, which is photographed by the camera 18, is captured, and the position of the center of gravity of the irradiation of the laser light is calculated. Next, the calculated barycentric position is compared with the barycentric position of the halation portion corresponding to the target grain, and the mirror controller 1
Reference numeral 6 adjusts the reflection angle of the reflection mirror 14. When the two match, the laser light from the minute spot light source 11 is irradiated toward the center of gravity of the target halation portion, that is, the center of the target grain.

As a result, since the laser light is transmitted and scattered inside the target grain, the brightness of the whole grain is relatively higher than that of surrounding grains, and in this state, the image of the grape photographed by the camera 18 is obtained. Is input (step S7). Next, a target grain is separated from the input image, and a predetermined analysis is performed by calculating the area and circularity of the grain (step S
8) Then, the quality of the grape is judged based on the analysis result (step S9).

In the above embodiment, the grape is illuminated to obtain the halation portion corresponding to each grain, and then the laser light is irradiated toward the center of the target halation portion, that is, the center of the target grain. Therefore, it is possible to reliably irradiate only the target particles with the laser light.

By the way, in the embodiment of FIG. 4, the number of the minute spot light sources 11 is one, and only one grain can be irradiated at a time, so that the efficiency is low as a whole. Therefore, if the minute spot light sources 11 are added to N pieces and the related devices are added accordingly, it is convenient that N particles can be simultaneously irradiated. Then, in this case, when the laser light is irradiated by the N minute spot light sources 11, the irradiation area of the grape is divided into N pieces, and the minute spot light source 11 corresponding to the target grains of each irradiation area is divided. It is configured to irradiate laser light. Therefore, the image processing computer 19 can perform image processing of N particles at the same time, and the efficiency as a whole can be improved.

Further, when a color CCD camera is used as the camera 18 and laser light within the respective sensitivity characteristic ranges of R, G, and B wavelengths of the color CCD camera is used, it is possible to perform grape color evaluation. As described below, the number of captured images can be increased once.

That is, when a monochrome camera is used, it is difficult to identify the boundary due to the overlapping of the adjacent grains, and it is necessary to capture the image of the whole vine several times. Is as shown in FIG. 6A, and the processing speed is slow.

In order to solve this, when a plurality of laser beams of several kinds of wavelengths are used, different wavelengths act on adjacent grains,
The flow of the processing is as shown in FIG. 6B, and it is possible to capture a large amount of images. The broken line in FIG. 6B is
The processing when all the grains could not be supplemented is shown.

Further, a color CCD camera is used, and
When laser light having sensitivity to each of R, G, and B wavelengths is used, even if the grapes are adjacent to each other, laser light having different wavelengths is irradiated, and the detection screen (R, G, B screen) is displayed. Since they are different, they are not overlapped and detected, the number of times of filter change can be reduced, and the number of particles that can be detected at one time can be increased (FIG. 6C). The broken line in FIG. 6 (C) shows the processing when all the grains could not be captured.

The brightness adjustment of the captured image by each laser light irradiation is performed for each spot light.

[0032]

As described above, in the present invention, a minute spot light is radiated toward a grain of a fruit or vegetable consisting of a set of grains, an image of the fruit or vegetable is photographed, and the brightness of the grain is detected from the image. The amount of light radiated to the fruits and vegetables was adjusted so that the detected brightness was a predetermined value, and predetermined image processing was performed on the image photographed under the conditions to evaluate the grains of the fruits and vegetables. Therefore, in the present invention, it is possible to automate the evaluation of the grains of fruits and vegetables to save labor, and at the time of performing the evaluation of the grains of fruits and vegetables, for example, it is possible to binarize the grains of the fruits and vegetables with a constant threshold value, and the image processing is uniform. Therefore, highly accurate evaluation can be performed in a short time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a luminance distribution according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation example of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of image processing according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 11 Micro spot light source 2 Fruits and vegetables 4, 15 Light source controller 5, 18 Camera 6, 19 Image processing computer 7, 20 Image output device 17 Illumination lamp

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A minute spot light source for irradiating a minute spot light toward a grain of a fruit or vegetable composed of an aggregate of grains, an image pickup means for photographing an image of the fruit and vegetable illuminated by the minute spot light, and the photographed image. Brightness detecting means for detecting the brightness of the grains, a light amount adjusting means for adjusting the light amount applied to the fruits and vegetables so that the detected brightness becomes a predetermined value, and the image pickup means for photographing under the condition of the end of the light amount adjustment. An apparatus for evaluating fruits and vegetables, comprising: an evaluation unit that performs predetermined image processing on the obtained image and evaluates the grains of the fruits and vegetables.