Method for determining the fluid level in a fluid-containing bottle and

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for determining the liquid level in a liquid containing bottle. The method comprises the following steps: a first image information acquisition step; a processing parameter determination step: acquiring a specific mark on the holding member by performing image recognition on the first image information, and determining a processing parameter based on the position of the specific mark and pre-stored information corresponding to the specific mark; a second image information acquisition step: irradiating light from a second light source to the liquid level through the bottle bottom of the liquid containing bottle, and acquiring second image information including the bottle bottom and the liquid level; and a liquid level determination step: processing the second image information by applying processing parameters to obtain processed image information, and determining the liquid level in the liquid containing bottle based on bottle bottom information and liquid level information on the liquid containing bottle in the processed image information. In this way, the liquid level can be determined very precisely and robustly in the case of different liquid receiving bottles. The invention also relates to a liquid level determination system for a liquid containing bottle.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to liquid level determination or liquid level monitoring, in particular to liquid level determination in the field of sample preparation and collection, and in particular to liquid level determination based on deep learning.

[0002] In particular, the present invention relates to a method for determining a liquid level in a liquid containing bottle.

[0003] Furthermore, the present invention also relates to a liquid level determination system for a liquid containing bottle. Background Art

[0004] At present, in the field of solvent extraction, for example, in the whole sample preparation process, in order to facilitate subsequent quantitative analysis (for example, in a liquid chromatograph), after the analyte in the sample is extracted with the help of a liquid solvent, it is sometimes necessary to concentrate a large amount of liquid solvent containing the analyte. The operator will first collect the liquid solvent containing the analyte from the sample pool into a container (also called a sample collection bottle). Then, the liquid solvent in such a container is transferred to a solvent evaporation device. In one example, after the concentration is completed, the extracted analyte needs to be transferred to, for example, a sample collection bottle of only about a few milliliters, and then the liquid chromatography analysis thereof is started.

[0005] Generally, it is desirable to determine the liquid level (or liquid volume) in a sample collection bottle, and such liquid level determination is automatic. In particular, it is also desirable that such liquid level determination is highly accurate. For example, for a 2 ml vial, the accuracy and resolution should be better than 0.1 ml. In addition, there are many types of such sample collection bottles, and the differences between them are sometimes significant, such as the size, color (e.g., transparent, amber, etc.), and material (e.g., glass, plastic, etc.) of the bottles may be different.

[0006] However, the current methods for determining the liquid level in such sample collection bottles still have various drawbacks:

[0007] First, after using a liquid level sensor or other device to photograph a liquid container, the subsequent processing method of the captured image is difficult to be compatible with environmental changes, liquid color changes, and lighting intensity changes. For example, even if an adaptive exposure strategy can be used, it still cannot meet the image processing requirements under any lighting conditions. Usually, strong light and unexpected light spots can easily lead to misjudgment of the liquid level.

[0008] Secondly, the liquid level sensor cannot or only requires a high cost to understand the type of liquid holding bottle. The camera and light source are not easy to adapt to different types of sample collection bottles. For example, for a larger liquid holding bottle, the algorithm should be redesigned to meet the new target characteristics.

[0009] In addition, current methods for determining liquid levels require mechanical and functional calibration to operate reliably. The liquid level sensor searches for the bottom of the liquid-holding bottle in a fixed bottom detection area, and searches for the liquid level in a fixed liquid level detection area, and then calculates the distance between these two lines to detect the liquid level. However, this detection method often fails to find the liquid level or bottle bottom light spot in the corresponding area, finds more than one liquid level or bottle bottom light spot, or fails to find the liquid level or bottle bottom due to various reasons.

[0010] Therefore, for liquid level determination or liquid level monitoring, especially in the field of sample preparation and collection, there is always a need to provide a method and system that can achieve liquid level determination in different (types) of liquid holding bottles very accurately and robustly (i.e., with as little interference from various factors as possible). Summary of the invention

[0011] The present invention relates to a method for determining a liquid level in a liquid holding bottle, wherein the liquid holding bottle can be held in a holding member, and the method may include the following steps: a first image information acquisition step: irradiating light from a first light source to the holding member and the liquid holding bottle located therein, and acquiring first image information including the holding member and the bottom of the liquid holding bottle; a processing parameter determination step: acquiring a specific mark on the holding member by performing image recognition on the first image information, and determining a processing parameter based on the position of the specific mark and pre-stored information corresponding thereto, wherein the processing parameter can be used to process image information of an area at least covering the bottom and liquid level of the liquid holding bottle; a second image information acquisition step: irradiating light from a second light source through the bottom of the liquid holding bottle to the liquid level thereof, and acquiring second image information including the bottom and the liquid level; a liquid level determination step: processing the second image information using the processing parameter to obtain processed image information, and determining the liquid level in the liquid holding bottle based on the bottom information and liquid level information on the liquid holding bottle in the processed image information.

[0012] On the one hand, by identifying the specific mark on the holding member, the pre-stored information corresponding to the specific mark can be determined. Based on the pre-stored information, the processing parameters for different liquid holding bottles can be obtained, so that the liquid level determination in the case of different (types) of liquid holding bottles can be achieved very accurately and robustly (i.e., reducing the interference of various factors). On the other hand, by using two different light sources to illuminate the liquid holding bottle, it is possible to maximize compatibility with environmental changes, different liquid colors, and changes in lighting intensity, making it easier to obtain accurate liquid levels in various complex situations.

[0013] Preferably, the second image information acquisition step may include: while the liquid holding bottle is irradiated with light from the first light source, allowing the light from the second light source to irradiate the liquid level through the bottle bottom, and acquiring the second image information; the liquid level determination step may include: a second image information correction sub-step: acquiring corrected second image information by comparing the second image information with the first image information, the corrected second image information containing bottle bottom information and liquid level information generated on the liquid holding bottle by irradiating the light from the second light source to the liquid holding bottle; a processing parameter application sub-step: applying the processing parameters to process the corrected second image information to obtain the processed image information.

[0014] By correcting the second image information, the image information generated by the second light source, such as light spots or lines, can be displayed more prominently, thereby facilitating the determination of the bottle bottom information and liquid level information of the liquid containing bottle.

[0015] In particular, the processing parameter determination step may include: acquiring bottle bottom information of the liquid containing bottle, and acquiring processing parameters based on the position of the specific mark, the position of the bottle bottom information and pre-stored information corresponding to the specific mark.

[0016] By using information including bottle bottom information to obtain processing parameters, errors in processing parameters can be further reduced or the efficiency of obtaining processing parameters can be improved.

[0017] In particular, the processing parameter determination step may include: - locating the object area based on the position of the specific mark and the first pre-stored information corresponding thereto, and obtaining the bottle bottom information within the object area; - obtaining the processing parameters based on the position of the bottle bottom information and the second pre-stored information corresponding to the specific mark.

[0018] By using the positioning object area to obtain the bottle bottom information, interference factors can be eliminated, thereby improving the efficiency and accuracy of bottle bottom information acquisition.

[0019] For example, the processing parameter determination step may include: - locating the object area based on the position of the specific mark and the first pre-stored information corresponding thereto, and acquiring the bottle bottom information within the object area; - acquiring the first processing parameter based on the position of the bottle bottom information and the second pre-stored information corresponding to the specific mark; - determining the standard bottle bottom information based on the specific mark, comparing the standard bottle bottom information with the bottle bottom information, and when the difference between the two is greater than a predetermined threshold, determining the second processing parameter, the second processing parameter is used to perform distortion calibration on the bottle bottom information with reference to the standard bottle bottom information; the liquid level determination step may include: applying the first processing parameter and the second processing parameter to process the second image information to obtain the processed image information.

[0020] By making the processing parameters include parameters for distortion calibration, the influence of image deformation caused by shooting angle problems can be reduced, thereby further improving the accuracy and efficiency of liquid level acquisition.

[0021] In addition, each of the plurality of holding members may be used to hold a corresponding liquid holding bottle, wherein the first image information acquisition step may include: irradiating light from the first light source to the plurality of holding members and the plurality of liquid holding bottles located therein, and acquiring the first image information including the plurality of holding members and the corresponding bottle bottoms of the plurality of liquid holding bottles; the processing parameter determination step includes: acquiring a specific mark on each of the plurality of holding members by performing image recognition on the first image information, and determining each processing parameter corresponding to each liquid holding bottle based on the position of each specific mark and the pre-stored information corresponding thereto, wherein the processing parameter is used to process image information of an area covering at least the bottle bottom and the liquid level of the corresponding liquid holding bottle; the second image information acquisition step may include: irradiating light from the second light source to each corresponding liquid level through each corresponding bottle bottom of the plurality of liquid holding bottles, and acquiring second image information including each bottle bottom and each liquid level; the liquid level determination step includes: applying the processing parameters to process the second image information to obtain processed image information corresponding to each liquid holding bottle, and determining its corresponding liquid level based on the bottle bottom information and liquid level information on the corresponding liquid holding bottle in each processed image information.

[0022] By determining the liquid levels of multiple liquid holding bottles at the same time, a very high liquid level determination efficiency can be achieved, costs can be greatly reduced, and it can be ensured that the liquid level of each liquid holding bottle is determined precisely and specifically.

[0023] Advantageously, the liquid level determining step may include: when at least one of the bottle bottom information and the liquid level information on the liquid holding bottle in the processed image information meets a preset condition, reprocessing the processed image information based on pre-stored information corresponding to the specific mark and / or the light source brightness of the second light source, and acquiring the liquid level in the liquid holding bottle based on the reprocessed image information.

[0024] If the bottle bottom information and the liquid level information still cannot meet the requirement of accurately determining the liquid level when the method of the present invention is performed to determine the liquid level, the image can be further processed by using pre-stored information, which is associated with a specific mark, the brightness of the second light source, etc. In particular, the influence of the actual environment on the bottle bottom information and the liquid level information of the liquid holding bottle can be taken into account.

[0025] The present invention also relates to a liquid level determination system for a liquid holding bottle, comprising: a holding member for holding the liquid holding bottle, on which a specific mark may be provided; a first light source, the light of the first light source can be irradiated to the holding member and the liquid holding bottle located therein; a second light source, the light of the second light source can be irradiated to the liquid level of the liquid holding bottle through the bottom of the liquid holding bottle; a photographing device; a controller, the controller may be associated with the photographing device, the controller may be configured to use the photographing device to acquire first image information including the holding member and the bottom of the liquid holding bottle when the holding member and the liquid holding bottle located therein are irradiated by the light from the first light source, and to use the photographing device to acquire first image information including the holding member and the bottom of the liquid holding bottle when the holding member and the liquid holding bottle located therein are irradiated by the light from the second light source The second image information including the bottle bottom and the liquid level is acquired by the photographing device; wherein the controller may include: a processing parameter determination module, the processing parameter determination module is configured to acquire the specific mark by performing image recognition on the first image information, and determine processing parameters based on the position of the specific mark and the pre-stored information corresponding thereto, wherein the processing parameters can be used to process the image information of the area at least covering the bottle bottom and the liquid level of the liquid holding bottle; a liquid level acquisition module, the liquid level acquisition module may be configured to apply the processing parameters to process the second image information to obtain processed image information, and determine the liquid level in the liquid holding bottle based on the bottle bottom information and liquid level information on the liquid holding bottle in the processed image information.

[0026] On the one hand, by setting a specific mark on the holding member, the processing parameters for different liquid holding bottles can be obtained based on the pre-stored information corresponding to the specific mark, so that the liquid level determination in the case of different (types) of liquid holding bottles can be achieved very accurately and robustly (i.e., reducing the interference of various factors). On the other hand, by providing two different light sources to illuminate the liquid holding bottle, it is possible to be compatible with environmental changes, different liquid colors, and changes in lighting intensity to the greatest extent, and it is easier to obtain accurate liquid levels in various complex situations.

[0027] Preferably, a plurality of liquid holding bottles may be arranged on a rotating body so as to be able to revolve therewith, so that the plurality of liquid holding bottles can move between a monitoring position and a non-monitoring position, the second light source may be located below the bottoms of the plurality of liquid holding bottles in the monitoring position, and the first light source may be positioned facing the plurality of liquid holding bottles.

[0028] By arranging a plurality of liquid containing bottles on a rotatable rotating body, the liquid level monitoring of the liquid containing bottles can be automated, and it is also convenient to determine the respective liquid levels of the plurality of liquid containing bottles at the same time, thereby improving the working efficiency of the overall system.

[0029] Advantageously, the controller may be configured to acquire the second image information when the liquid holding bottle is irradiated with light from the second light source and the first light source; the controller may further include: a second image information correction module, which may be configured to acquire corrected second image information by comparing the second image information with the first image information, wherein the corrected second image information may include bottle bottom information and liquid level information generated on the liquid holding bottle by irradiating the liquid holding bottle with light from the second light source; and a processing parameter application module, which may be configured to apply the processing parameters to process the corrected second image information to obtain the processed image information.

[0030] With the help of the second image information correction module, interference from other light can be reduced, so that the image information generated by the second light source, such as light spots or lines, is displayed more prominently, which is beneficial to determine the bottom information and liquid level information of the liquid holding bottle.

[0031] In particular, the controller may be configured to adjust the light source brightness of the first light source and / or the second light source when at least one of the bottle bottom information and the liquid level information on the liquid containing bottle in the processed image information meets a preset condition.

[0032] Through the above configuration, the influence of various complex situations on the bottle bottom information and liquid level information of the liquid holding bottle can be taken into consideration, thereby making the adaptability of liquid level determination better.

[0033] For example, the first light source may be installed on the photographing device.

[0034] By arranging the first light source on the shooting device, the retaining member and the liquid holding bottle therein are clearly illuminated when the shooting device is used to acquire image information, thereby reducing the problem of inaccurate or unclear image information caused by unreasonable light source arrangement.

[0035] Furthermore, the liquid level determination system may be used in a sample preparation collection system, wherein the liquid holding bottle may be a sample collection bottle. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0036] Figure 1 A schematic diagram showing an arrangement of a liquid level determination system for a liquid holding bottle according to one embodiment of the present invention, wherein a rotating body carrying a plurality of holding members is shown;

[0037] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a front view of a holding member and a liquid containing bottle held therein according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein a second light source located at the bottom thereof is shown;

[0038] Figure 3 Schematically illustrating a photographing device and a first light source according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the photographing device and the first light source face a plurality of holding members;

[0039] Figure 4A Schematically illustrating first image information according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the first image information includes a holding member and a bottle bottom of a liquid containing bottle;

[0040] Figure 4B Schematically shows the Figure 4A The second image information of the embodiment of the present invention comprises a bottom of the liquid holding bottle and a liquid level;

[0041] Figure 5A An example of first image information with upward viewing distortion is schematically shown;

[0042] Figure 5B An example of first image information with overhead distortion is schematically shown;

[0043] Figure 6 An example of the enlargement of the light spot due to the excessive light intensity of the first light source is schematically shown;

[0044] Fig. 7A Schematically illustrating second image information according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0045] Figure 7B Schematically shows the Fig. 7AThe processed image information obtained after applying the processing parameters to perform processing in the embodiment;

[0046] Figure 8 A part of a liquid level determination system according to an embodiment of the present invention is schematically shown. The liquid level determination system can determine the liquid levels of a plurality of liquid containing bottles.

[0047] Reference numerals list

[0048] 100 Rotating body;

[0049] 110 Retaining member

[0050] 112 Specific markings;

[0051] 200 First Light Source;

[0052] 300 Second light source;

[0053] 400 Liquid holding bottle;

[0054] 410 bottle bottom;

[0055] 420 Liquid level;

[0056] 500 Gas supply device;

[0057] 600 Filming equipment;

[0058] 610 camera;

[0059] 620 filter;

[0060] 700 Bottle bottom information;

[0061] 800 Liquid level information;

[0062] 900 boxes. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0063] In the present invention, the term "liquid holding bottle" refers to a container for holding liquid, especially a sample. It can be understood that regardless of the specific shape of the container, as long as the container receives / holds / stores liquid (whether open or sealed, whether in a bottle shape or not) it falls within the scope of the "liquid holding bottle" of the present invention. In a preferred case, the liquid holding bottle of the present invention refers to a sample preparation collection system, such as a sample collection bottle for an evaporator.

[0064] In the present invention, it is understood that the (liquid) level in the liquid holding bottle can be zero. In addition, even if it is considered full, there can still be some gas, such as air, above the liquid in the liquid holding bottle, such as the sample collection bottle, that is, the liquid does not necessarily completely fill the entire liquid holding bottle.

[0065] In the present invention, the term "liquid level" may refer to volume information in milliliters, for example, but may also refer to height information of the liquid surface from the bottom of the bottle, which may be calculated when the type of the liquid holding bottle is known. In addition, it is understood that, although the liquid is placed from the bottom of the bottle (i.e., the bottom of the bottle) by default, if the liquid is placed from a certain middle part of the liquid holding bottle (e.g., due to a specific structure of the liquid holding bottle), the starting position also needs to be considered when determining the liquid level.

[0066] In addition, the liquid level determination system for a liquid holding bottle according to the present invention can be used not only to monitor the liquid level, but also to achieve other predetermined functions (such as but not limited to liquid analysis, reporting, etc.). That is, the liquid level determination system of the present invention can be an independent system for monitoring the liquid level, but can also be integrated with other systems or devices to form a part thereof.

[0067] In the present invention, the term "information" may refer to a processable object used to express characteristics or specific content, which may be in various forms such as text, pattern, data, image, signal, etc., unless the form of information is clearly indicated before the term, such as image information. Therefore, in the present invention, "bottom of bottle information" and the bottom of the bottle, "liquid level information" and the liquid level are different concepts, the latter refers to the material entity, while the former is the content reflecting the characteristics of the material entity.

[0068] In the present invention, some directions involved can be defined with reference to the location of the photographing device. For example, the side of the liquid holding bottle and the retaining member facing the photographing device can be defined as its front side, while the side away from the photographing device can be positioned as its back side. Usually, the bottom of the liquid holding bottle faces downward. When there are multiple liquid holding bottles and their corresponding multiple retaining members, the distances between them and the photographing device can be different, and the horizontal spacings between them can be the same or different.

[0069] first image information and second image information

[0070] The present invention comprises two different light sources, i.e., a first light source 200 and a second light source. The first light source 200 and the second light source 300 are preferably communicatively connected to the controller of the present invention, but can also be manually controlled, such as turning on and off or adjusting their brightness. The first light source 200 and the second light source 300 can be specially designed for the implementation of the method of the present invention, but can also be originally present in the system. Preferably, the first light source 200 and / or the second light source 300 can be adjustable in brightness during the execution of the method of the present invention.

[0071] The position of the first light source 200 can be selected in a wide range in theory, but it is preferred to face the liquid holding bottle 400 and its holding member 110, rather than illuminate from the side or bottom thereof. In some embodiments, the first light source 200 is mounted on the photographing device 600, that is, facing or directly facing the liquid holding bottle 400 and its holding member 110 together with the photographing device 600. In principle, the light emitted by the first light source 200 should be irradiated to the holding member 110 and the liquid holding bottle 400 located therein, so as to at least illuminate the specific mark 112 on the holding member 110 and the bottom 410 of the liquid holding bottle 400. Preferably, the light emitted by the first light source 200 can illuminate the portion of the liquid holding bottle 400 used to determine the liquid level 420 and the portion of the holding member 110 where the specific mark 112 may appear.

[0072] In some embodiments, the first light source 200 can be designed as a ring light source. In particular, the ring light source can be arranged concentrically with the camera 610 of the shooting device 600, such as Figure 3 In other embodiments, the first light source may also be designed as a planar light source, but in this case, care should be taken to prevent the reflected light of the planar light source on the liquid holding bottle 400 from directly returning to the shooting device 600 to form an interfering light spot (for example, Figure 6 In the case of using a planar light source, the first light source may be installed between the photographing device 600 and the liquid holding bottle 400.

[0073] The method of the present invention includes a first image information acquisition step: irradiating light from a first light source to the holding member and the liquid holding bottle 400 located therein, and acquiring first image information including the holding member 110 and the bottle bottom 410 of the liquid holding bottle 400 .

[0074] In the present invention, the term "image information" refers not only to the image itself, such as a photo, but also to various information including the image, such as position information of specific elements in the image, and may also include various processed information based on the image. In the first image information acquisition step, although the first image information includes at least the bottom 410 of the liquid holding bottle 400, it may also include any area of ​​the liquid holding bottle 400 where liquid level information may appear.

[0075] exist Figure 4A FIG. 4 shows first image information according to an embodiment of the present invention, and the first image information includes image information of four holding members 110 and a liquid containing bottle 400. It can be seen that the present invention has a situation where the holding member 110 does not necessarily contain a liquid containing bottle 400. Figure 4AAs shown in the example, from left to right, there is no bottle, an empty bottle (i.e., the liquid level is zero), a liquid level (or liquid volume) of 8 ml, and a liquid level (or liquid volume) of 10 ml in the four holding members 110. Regardless of whether a liquid holding bottle 400 is held or whether the liquid level information of the liquid holding bottle 400 is clearly displayed, a very clear specific mark 112 can be identified in the first image information. As will be further described below, the processing parameters can be obtained based on the position of the specific mark 112 (e.g., based on it) and the pre-stored information corresponding to the specific mark 112.

[0076] When it is necessary to obtain first image information including a plurality of liquid holding bottles 400 and their holding members 110, it is preferred to arrange the first light source 200 at an appropriate position so that the light intensity irradiated by the first light source 200 to each liquid holding bottle 400 is relatively uniform. Figure 8 exemplarily shows first image information for a plurality of holding members 110 and a liquid containing bottle 400 located therein, wherein the plurality of holding members 110 are carried on the rotating body 100 and the holding members 110 are facing the interior of the rotating body 100 . Figure 8 The small boxes shown in the figure exemplarily indicate that further information (e.g., specific mark 112, bottle bottom information 700, liquid level information, etc.) for each of the plurality of holding members 110 and the liquid holding bottle 400 can be obtained based on the first image information. Figure 8 The small box in does not imply the range of pre-stored information or the target area, but only indicates that targeted liquid level determination can be performed for each of the plurality of holding members 110 and the plurality of liquid containing bottles 400 .

[0077] For example, the first light source 200 may be arranged near the rotation center of the rotating body 100 for carrying the plurality of liquid holding bottles 400 (see Figure 1 ), so that the optical path to each liquid holding bottle 400 is approximately the same. If it is not installed near the rotation center, in the case of a large difference in the optical path, a light shielding sheet, a filter 620 and other elements can be used in conjunction to adjust the light intensity for each liquid holding bottle 400 and its holding member 110, so that their brightness in the image is relatively close.

[0078] In some embodiments, the first light source may be a single-frequency light source, such as an infrared light source or a blue light source.

[0079] The position of the second light source 300 is designed so that the light from the second light source 300 can pass through the bottom 410 of the liquid holding bottle 400 and irradiate the liquid level 420 thereof, so as to facilitate the subsequent acquisition of the bottle bottom information and the liquid level information 800. Preferably, the second light source 300 can be located below the liquid holding bottle 400 (for example, see Figure 2), but not necessarily directly below it.

[0080] The second light source 300 preferably uses a light source with as wide a frequency as possible, such as white light, to avoid obvious absorption of a certain wavelength when a certain special liquid is contained in the liquid containing bottle 400, thereby undesirably affecting the light intensity.

[0081] As mentioned above, the second light source 300 or both the first light source 200 and the second light source 300 are preferably adjustable in brightness. The reason for the need for adjustment may be that the differences between different liquid holding bottles 400 are very large. For example, for a relatively large liquid holding bottle 400, if the second light source 300 is far away from it, the brightness needs to be adjusted to be higher, but for a relatively small liquid holding bottle 400, the brightness cannot be too high to prevent overexposure when acquiring an image. Therefore, in a very preferred embodiment, after acquiring the specific mark 112 on the holding member 110, the light intensity of the second light source 300 can be adjusted based on the pre-stored information corresponding to the specific mark 112 (for example, the type of the bottle itself). For example, the brightness adjustment range of the second light source 300 is 400 to 2000 lumens. For another example, the brightness adjustment range of the first light source 200 is 1000 to 2000 lumens.

[0082] The method of the present invention may further include a second image information acquisition step: irradiating light from the second light source 300 through the bottom 410 of the liquid holding bottle 400 to the liquid level 420 thereof, and acquiring second image information including the bottom 410 and the liquid level 420 .

[0083] It can be understood that the execution order of the second image information acquisition step and the first image information acquisition step is arbitrary, that is, they are independent of each other, for example, the first image information acquisition step can be executed first (which is preferred), or the second image information acquisition step can be executed first. However, the processing parameter determination step to be described in detail below is generally executed after the first image information acquisition step, because it requires processing the first image information.

[0084] exist Figure 4B According to Figure 4A The second image information of the embodiment also includes image information of the four holding members 110 and the liquid holding bottle 400 (i.e., from left to right, no bottle, empty bottle, liquid level of 8 ml, and liquid level of 10 ml). It can be seen that very clear bottle bottom information 700 (e.g., in the form of a bottle bottom light spot) and liquid level information (e.g., in the form of a liquid level light spot) of the liquid holding bottle 400 can be obtained in the second image information.

[0085] Keep components

[0086] The liquid holding bottle 400 of the present invention can be held in the holding member 110. The holding member 110 can have any form suitable for holding the liquid holding bottle 400, such as a holding recess that matches the outer shape of the liquid holding bottle 400. It can be understood that the liquid holding bottle 400 should be able to remain stable in the holding member 110 without causing unnecessary shaking of the liquid holding bottle 400, for example, due to the rotation of the rotating body 100 that carries the liquid holding bottle 400. The holding member can achieve other functions besides holding the liquid holding bottle 400, such as heating the liquid holding bottle 400 or providing vibration as needed (for example, to shake the liquid). To this end, the holding member 110 may include corresponding elements or parts for performing heating, movement, and vibration, which will not be repeated here.

[0087] In order to determine the liquid level 420 in the liquid holding bottle 400, when the liquid holding bottle 400 is located in the retaining member 110, the portion used to determine the liquid level 420 should be visible. Here, the portion used to determine the liquid level 420 should at least include all possible ranges of the liquid level. For some liquid holding bottles 400, such a range is, for example, from the bottom 410 of the bottle (the outer bottom of the bottle or a short distance below the outer bottom of the bottle) to the liquid level position when the bottle is full (not necessarily close to the bottle mouth) in the up-down direction, and the width of the entire liquid holding bottle 400 (or slightly wider) in the left-right direction. The portion used to determine the liquid level 420 should at least be facing the shooting device 600, and the portion of the liquid holding bottle 400 that is not facing the shooting device 600 can be visible from the outside (for example, when the liquid holding bottle 400 can be rotated around its own axis to a predetermined position with the help of a rotating mechanism, this is beneficial) or invisible. Figure 2 In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 , the holding member 110 preferably has a frame-like structure or a bracket structure, wherein the frame-like structure may include a window portion for exposing a portion of the liquid holding bottle 400 for determining the liquid level 420 .

[0088] The retaining member 110 of the present invention may be provided with a specific mark 112 at least on its front side facing the shooting device 600. The specific mark 112 may be in any appropriate form, including various patterns, symbols, numbers, text, letters or a combination thereof. If the specific mark 112 is a character, the character may be one, two or more digits. The retaining member 110 may include a metal material to facilitate its heating purpose. However, metal materials are prone to introduce stray light spots under the irradiation of light, and may even be deformed to a certain extent, which can make it difficult to determine the image information. In addition, certain forms of specific marks 112, such as 1 and L, are also prone to misidentification during identification. In order to improve the accuracy and reliability of identifying specific marks 112, a set of non-confusing specific marks 112, such as a combination of letters and numbers, may be designed for each retaining member 110. Figure 2In the embodiment shown in , the specific mark 112 may include two characters 2F. In other embodiments, the specific mark 112 may include two characters 0A (for example, see Figure 1 , which corresponds to a 2 ml liquid holding bottle).

[0089] When the liquid holding bottle 400 is held in the holding member 110, the specific mark 112 is preferably located above the height of the highest possible liquid level (i.e., the full bottle liquid level) of the liquid holding bottle 400, but this is not restrictive. The specific mark 112 can be located at any height or any position in theory. However, it is preferred that the position of the specific mark 112 is close to the body of the liquid holding bottle 400, whether in the up-down direction or the left-right direction, such as at or near the edge of the holding member 110 close to the liquid holding bottle 400. This is conducive to reducing unnecessary interference factors when processing information and improving the speed of processing operations.

[0090] When the test personnel or operators put the liquid holding bottle 400 into the holding member 110, they usually do not put it blindly, but put the liquid holding bottle 400 into its corresponding holding member 110. The direct or indirect basis for their placement of the liquid holding bottle 400 may be, for example, based on the specific mark 112 on the holding member 110, such as placing a certain type of liquid holding bottle 400 into the holding member 110 corresponding to the specific type. Therefore, in the present invention, the specific mark 112 on the holding member 110 is associated with or corresponds to the information about the liquid holding bottle 400. Here, "information about the liquid holding bottle" or "pre-stored information corresponding to the specific mark 112" may include but is not limited to the bottle type (bottle color, size, material), bottle bottom position, highest possible liquid level position, etc. Such information corresponding to the specific mark 112, that is, information reflecting the liquid holding bottle, may be pre-stored, for example, pre-stored in the controller.

[0091] In order to establish the association or correspondence between the specific mark 112 and the holding member 110, the liquid holding bottle 400 and various information including liquid level information, bottle bottom information, etc. in advance, the liquid level can be determined based on deep learning. To this end, the present invention can create a model (or model design) and control the liquid level determination algorithm based on the created model.

[0092] By building a model and training the model, the accuracy of the pre-stored information and processing parameters can be improved, thereby more accurately determining the liquid level of the liquid holding bottle. For example, a data set can be established to collect image information under various application scenarios and conditions to implement a robust artificial intelligence model, so that the liquid level determination method according to the present invention is insensitive to the color of the liquid in the liquid holding bottle, the position difference of the liquid holding bottle, or various image deformations, and can be more flexibly used in practical applications, especially in sample preparation and collection systems.

[0093] In one example, deep learning-based model creation, training, and operation may include: preprocessing, which may include resizing, noise reduction, and image contrast enhancement; annotation, which is used to annotate different liquid-containing bottles and configure bounding boxes and labels; data enhancement, such as using translation, scaling, rotation, shearing, stretching, etc. to create more training images to enhance the generalization ability of the model; training, the training process may include allocating image data to training sets, validation sets, and test sets according to a ratio of 70%, 15%, and 15%, training the model, and configuring categories that match the bottle types, setting hyperparameters, such as the number of batches, the number of iterations, training the model using the training set, and validating the model through the validation set to prevent overfitting, and selecting appropriate model weights as model output; and prediction, prediction may include exporting the model, appropriately quantizing the model, and running the model to test the test set and observe whether it has good accuracy and generalization ability. The above specific steps and numerical values ​​are merely exemplary, and the liquid level determination method based on deep learning of the present invention is not limited thereto, but preferably may include model design, image collection and data set establishment, network training and parameter adjustment, etc.

[0094] After obtaining the aforementioned first image information, the specific mark 112 on the retaining member 110 can be obtained by performing image recognition on the first image information. Here, image recognition can use OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology. In order to further improve the accuracy of recognition, the present invention uses a self-built model based on deep learning OCR technology. This can be done at any appropriate time before starting to determine the liquid level.

[0095] Since it is a self-built model, the form of the specific mark 112 can be further broadened. For example, it is not limited to conventional OCR characters, but can be any mark that is conducive to improving the distinguishability. When building the model by yourself, the possible impact of light irradiating the retaining member 110 on the specific mark 112 can be considered. For example, in this model, for a specific mark 112 at a known position in the first image information, its deformed mark under illumination, a mark with stray light spots, or other blurred or unclear marks (form, state, etc.) can be obtained. Afterwards, when the self-built model is actually applied, when a similar or highly similar mark is obtained in the first image information, the specific mark 112 on the retaining member 110 can be obtained with high precision, without the influence of any interference factors that cause the specific mark 112 to be unable to be obtained (for example, the sharp corner of A is blocked by the light spot).

[0096] In a preferred embodiment, a plurality of liquid holding bottles 400 may be provided, and each of the plurality of liquid holding bottles 400 may be held in a corresponding holding member 110. However, this does not mean that each holding member 110 must hold a liquid holding bottle 400, that is, there may be no liquid holding bottle 400 in the holding member 110. In a more preferred embodiment, the specific mark 112 on each holding member 110 of the plurality of holding members 110 may be obtained by performing image recognition on the first image information. The specific marks 112 on each holding member 110 may be the same, but may also be different. The present invention has no limitation on the order of obtaining the specific marks 112 of the plurality of holding members 110 from the first image information, and the specific marks 112 may be obtained simultaneously, sequentially in a specific order, or even sequentially in a random order.

[0097] In an advantageous embodiment, the first image information acquisition step includes irradiating light from the first light source 200 to the plurality of holding members 110 and the plurality of liquid holding bottles 400 located therein, and acquiring first image information corresponding to each bottle bottom 410 of the plurality of holding members 110 and the plurality of liquid holding bottles 400. Preferably, the first image information is acquired simultaneously for the plurality of holding members 110 and the plurality of liquid holding bottles 400. However, the present invention does not exclude that the first image information may be acquired separately (i.e., not simultaneously) for each holding member 110 and the liquid holding bottle 400 located therein.

[0098] In other embodiments, the second image information acquisition step includes irradiating light from the second light source 300 to each corresponding liquid level 420 through each corresponding bottle bottom 410 of the plurality of liquid holding bottles 400 , and acquiring second image information including each bottle bottom 410 and each liquid level 420 .

[0099] The method of the present invention further includes a processing parameter determination step, which includes obtaining a specific mark 112 by performing image recognition on the first image information. Here, obtaining the specific mark 112 may include obtaining its position (for example, absolute position, relative position, etc., which may also be in the form of coordinates) and pre-stored information corresponding thereto. In order to obtain the pre-stored information, it is necessary to identify the content of the specific mark 112. Thereafter, the step may include determining processing parameters based on the position of the specific mark 112 and the pre-stored information corresponding thereto (i.e., the pre-stored information associated with the liquid holding bottle 400). Here, the processing parameters can be used to process image information covering at least the area of ​​the bottom 410 and the liquid level 420 of the liquid holding bottle 400. The determined processing parameters are preferably stored in the controller of the present invention, but may also be recorded manually. The processing parameters may include various parameters for processing image information, such as position, angle, order, etc.

[0100] By identifying the specific mark 112 on the holding member 110, the pre-stored information corresponding to the specific mark 112 can be determined. This pre-stored information can characterize the type of the liquid holding bottle 400, and then based on the different types, processing parameters for different liquid holding bottles 400 can be obtained, so that the liquid level 420 of different liquid holding bottles 400 can be determined very accurately and robustly (that is, less affected by various factors). In addition, the position of the specific mark 112 can be used as a reference to combine with the pre-stored information to process the image (for example, but not limited to framing the area that needs to be processed).

[0101] For an embodiment of multiple retaining members 110 and multiple liquid holding bottles 400 (i.e., a multi-channel embodiment), the processing parameter determination step may include acquiring a specific mark 112 on each of the multiple retaining members 110 by performing image recognition on the first image information, and determining each processing parameter corresponding to each liquid holding bottle 400 based on the position of each specific mark 112 and the pre-stored information corresponding thereto, wherein the processing parameters are used to process the image information of an area covering at least the bottom 410 and the liquid level 420 of the corresponding liquid holding bottle 400.

[0102] As mentioned above, the processing parameters may include various parameters for processing the first image information, and the processing parameters are determined by the position of the specific mark 112 and the pre-stored information corresponding thereto. Here, the expression "determined by..." does not mean that it is determined only by it, but there may be other factors for determining the processing parameters.

[0103] In a preferred embodiment, the processing parameter determination step may include: obtaining the bottle bottom information 700 of the liquid holding bottle 400, and obtaining the processing parameters based on the position of the specific mark 112, the position of the bottle bottom information 700, and the pre-stored information corresponding to the specific mark 112. The present invention is not limited to this, and other factors may be added to jointly determine the processing parameters. More preferably, in this processing parameter determination step, the bottle bottom information 700 may be obtained as follows: firstly, the object area is located based on the position of the specific mark 112 and the first pre-stored information corresponding thereto, and the bottle bottom information 700 is obtained in the object area.

[0104] In one example, assuming that the specific mark 112 is a "9K" character (a combination of numbers and letters) on the holding member 110, and in particular, two "9K" characters located on both sides of the liquid holding bottle 400 are obtained, the first pre-stored information corresponding to the specific mark 112 can be determined based on the specific mark 112. For example, the first pre-stored information can include the type of the liquid holding bottle 400 in the holding member 110, such as a 12 ml (full scale) bottle. The first pre-stored information can also include further information based on the type of the liquid holding bottle 400, such as the area range where the bottle bottom information 700 for such a bottle may appear, such as an interval of a centimeter to b centimeters moving in the up and down direction from the location of the specific mark 112. Here, the area range can also be referred to as an "object area", and the bottle bottom information 700 should usually appear in the object area, and not outside the object area.

[0105] Therefore, if the bottle bottom information 700 can be obtained in the object area determined by the position of the specific mark 112 and the first pre-stored information corresponding thereto, the bottle bottom information 700 is relatively accurate and should be reliable. By locating the object area to determine the bottle bottom information 700, it is possible to effectively eliminate the failure of determining the bottle bottom information 700 caused by interference factors. For example, due to reasons such as lighting, multiple or multiple segments of bottle bottom information may appear in the first image information. If the bottle bottom information is determined directly in the first image information, it may be impossible to accurately determine the bottle bottom information, or even fail to determine the bottle bottom information.

[0106] In a preferred embodiment, after the bottle bottom information is obtained, the processing parameters can be obtained based on the position of the bottle bottom information and the second pre-stored information corresponding to the specific mark 112. In other words, in this process, the information is obtained based on the position of the specific mark 112 as a reference, and the processing parameters are obtained based on the position of the obtained bottle bottom information (whether it is an absolute position, a relative position, or a specific coordinate) as a reference.

[0107] The second pre-stored information corresponding to the specific mark 112 may be partially the same as the first pre-stored information, for example, it may also include the type of the liquid holding bottle 400 in the holding member 110, for example, a 12 ml (full scale) bottle. The second pre-stored information may also include further information based on the type of the liquid holding bottle 400, such as the area or area range where the liquid level information of such a bottle may appear, such as a range of c centimeters upward from the position where the bottle bottom information is located, or a range of c centimeters to d centimeters upward.

[0108] In the above embodiment, the position of the obtained bottle bottom information 700 is used as a reference instead of the position of the specific mark 112. The reason for obtaining the processing parameters by combining with the pre-stored information corresponding to the specific mark 112 is at least that if the processing parameters are determined for multiple liquid holding bottles 400 at the same time, although the heights of the specific marks 112 on the retaining members 110 of these multiple liquid holding bottles 400 may be basically the same in the first image information, the positions of their bottle bottom information 700 are quite different. If the processing parameters are determined directly using the position of the specific mark 112 and the pre-stored information corresponding to the specific mark 112, the error may be relatively large.

[0109] In the present invention, by using two different light sources to illuminate the liquid holding bottle 400, the light facing the liquid holding bottle 400 and the holding member 110 can be used to illuminate the specific mark 112 on the holding member 110, thereby obtaining the pre-stored information corresponding to the specific mark 112, and accurately obtaining the processing parameters based on at least the pre-stored information. Then, the light irradiating the bottom of the liquid holding bottle 400 is used to more clearly obtain the image information containing the bottle bottom information 700 and the liquid level information 800, and the processing parameters are applied to this image information to obtain the processed image information that can accurately obtain the liquid level. In this way, environmental changes, different liquid colors, and changes in lighting intensity can be compatible to the greatest extent, and it is easier to obtain an accurate liquid level in various complex situations.

[0110] Determination of liquid level

[0111] The method of the present invention includes a liquid level determination step, which is performed after the aforementioned first image information acquisition step, the processing parameter determination step, and the second image information acquisition step. In other words, before the liquid level determination step is performed, the first image information and the second image information have been acquired, and the processing parameters have been determined based on the specific mark 112 acquired through the first image information. Therefore, in the liquid level determination step, the processing parameters can be applied to process the second image information to obtain processed image information, and the liquid level in the liquid holding bottle 400 is determined based on the bottle bottom information 700 and the liquid level information 800 on the liquid holding bottle 400 in the processed image information.

[0112] In some embodiments, the bottle bottom information 700 and the liquid level information 800 may include information in the form of light spots in the image. Here, the term "light spot" is not used to limit the form or shape of the information or pattern, such as circular, rectangular, irregular, etc., but only reflects a specific form of information generated by light irradiating the liquid holding bottle 400 (for example, a light spot caused by the reflection of the glass bottle). It should be noted that the present invention does not limit the bottle bottom information 700 and the liquid level information 800 to bottle bottom light spots and liquid level light spots, but can be a collection of multiple information including such optical features.

[0113] As described above, in the liquid level determination step, only the processing parameters need to be applied to process the second image information. The processing parameters are obtained based on the first image information, but for processing the second image information, the first image information itself does not need to be used directly. In other words, only the processing parameters obtained based on the first image information, such as position, size, order, etc., need to be used. It can be understood that in the first image information acquisition step and the second image information acquisition step, the setting of the entire system should remain unchanged, that is, the position of the liquid holding bottle 400 and its holding member 110 is fixed, otherwise it will not be possible to use the processing parameters to process the second image information, and its application basis will be lost.

[0114] In one example, based on the position of the specific mark 112 and the pre-stored information corresponding thereto, it can be determined that the bottle bottom information 700 of the liquid holding bottle 400 can be obtained within a certain size range and the liquid level information of the liquid holding bottle 400 can be obtained within a certain size range starting from the position of the specific mark 112. In this example, the processing parameters can include two size ranges relative to the position of the specific mark 112. Thus, interference factors of the bottle bottom information 700 and the liquid level information 800 can be significantly eliminated, such as other interference spots or interference information on the holding member 110 or the liquid holding bottle 400. Thereafter, in the liquid level determination step, the two size ranges are applied to the second image information, and then the processed image information can be obtained, and the liquid level of the liquid holding bottle 400 can be accurately determined based on the bottle bottom information 700 and the liquid level information 800 on the liquid holding bottle 400 in the processed image information.

[0115] In a preferred embodiment, in addition to solving the problem of different heights of the bottom positions of the bottles caused by the need to determine the liquid levels of multiple liquid holding bottles 400, the accuracy of liquid level determination can be further improved by correcting processing parameters. In the case where the first image information includes multiple, for example, four, six, or eight liquid holding bottles and their retaining members 110, the image information of the liquid holding bottles located further outward may be distorted compared to the image information of the liquid holding bottle located in the middle, or the upper and lower edges of some liquid holding bottles may also be easily distorted. In addition, changes in the pitch angle of the shooting device 600 relative to the liquid holding bottles may also cause distortion. For example, in Figure 5A and Figure 5B 1 and 2 respectively show the first image information with possible upward distortion and downward distortion. These distortions have a great influence on the determination of the liquid level of the liquid holding bottle.

[0116] To this end, the processing parameter determination step may include the following sub-steps: first, based on the position of the specific mark 112 and the first pre-stored information corresponding thereto, the object area is located, and the bottle bottom information 700 is acquired in the object area; then, based on the position of the bottle bottom information 700 and the second pre-stored information corresponding to the specific mark 112, the first processing parameter is acquired, and the first processing parameter may include, for example, a size parameter based on the bottle bottom information 700; finally, based on the specific mark 112, the standard bottle bottom information (for example, the standard bottle bottom information that a certain type of bottle should reflect in the first image information under the same system setting) is determined, and the standard bottle bottom information is compared with the currently acquired bottle bottom information 700. When the difference between the two is greater than a predetermined threshold (for example, see Fig. 7A In the case shown in the figure, the current bottle bottom information has a large distortion), and the second processing parameter is determined, and the second processing parameter is used to calibrate the distortion of the bottle bottom information with reference to the standard bottle bottom information. In other words, the second processing parameter can include processing parameters for how to calibrate the distortion of the bottle bottom information, such as angle conversion, etc. Figure 7B exemplarily shows the second image information after applying the processing parameters that can calibrate the distortion, each bottle bottom light spot and the liquid level light spot (if any) are approximately horizontal, and the liquid level of the liquid holding bottle 400 can be accurately determined. On the contrary, when the difference between the two is less than or equal to the predetermined threshold, it is not necessary to determine the second processing parameter, and only the first processing parameter is applied in the liquid level determination step.

[0117] In the present invention, there are many ways to calibrate the distortion. For example, the angular deviation between the center coordinates of the standard bottle bottom information and the center coordinates of the current bottle bottom information can be determined to obtain the deformation angle of the parallelogram, and the parallelogram calibration of the image is performed to correct or calibrate the angle. Then, the relative distance between the current (bottom information) coordinates and the upper edge of the image is determined to obtain the trapezoidal deformation caused by the change in the pitch angle, and the trapezoidal calibration of the image is performed to correct or calibrate the angle. For another example, if the liquid holding bottle 400 is in a non-middle position, such as the leftmost position, the bottle bottom spot of the current liquid holding bottle 400 is very likely to be distorted with the left lower and the right higher, so it is necessary to calibrate the trapezoidal deformation. Here, the specific method of the deformation calibration of the parallelogram or trapezoid can be, for example, linear regression, according to which the deviation between the current coordinates and the standard position is calculated, and the coefficient table to be calibrated is obtained by looking up the table (which can be calculated in advance to facilitate improving the calculation efficiency), and the image is transformed into a geometric shape to perform corresponding correction or calibration.

[0118] In the above embodiment, the liquid level determining step performed after the processing parameter determining step may include: applying the aforementioned first processing parameter and the aforementioned second processing parameter to process the second image information to obtain processed image information.

[0119] In addition, in the present invention, it is also possible to confirm whether the obtained bottle bottom information is valid bottle bottom information in the processing parameter determination step. In some embodiments, according to the pre-stored information corresponding to the specific mark 112, for a certain type of bottle, the valid bottle bottom information may include a bottle bottom light spot with a thickness of, for example, 4-9 mm (approximately rectangular). If the current bottle bottom information is an invalid bottle bottom light spot, it is possible to consider adjusting the brightness of the first light source 200 and re-performing the first image information acquisition step.

[0120] In the present invention, two light sources are used and two different image information acquisition steps are performed because in many cases the light source required to obtain the specific mark 112 on the retaining member 110 and the light source required to illuminate the liquid level of the liquid holding bottle 400 are quite different and cannot be well taken into account at the same time.

[0121] In some embodiments, the processing parameters can be directly applied to the second image information. In one example, in the first image information acquisition step, the first light source 200 can be 1500 lumens and the second light source 300 can be the dimmest, while in the second image information acquisition step, the first light source 200 can be the dimmest and the second light source 300 can be 1200 lumens.

[0122] In other embodiments, the processing parameters may be applied to the modified second image information. To this end, the second image information acquisition step may include: while the liquid holding bottle 400 is irradiated by the light from the first light source 200, the light from the second light source 300 is irradiated to the liquid level through the bottom of the bottle, and the second image information is acquired. That is, when acquiring the second image information, not only the second light source 300 irradiates the liquid holding bottle 400, but also the first light source 200 irradiates the liquid holding bottle 400 (the directions of the two irradiations are different).

[0123] In this case, the liquid level determination step may include a second image information correction sub-step: obtaining the corrected second image information by comparing the second image information with the first image information, the corrected second image information including the bottle bottom information 700 and the liquid level information 800 generated on the liquid holding bottle 400 by the light of the second light source 300 irradiating the liquid holding bottle 400. In one example, in the first image information acquisition step, the first light source 200 may be 1500 lumens and the second light source 300 may be the darkest, while in the second image information acquisition step, the first light source 200 may be 1500 lumens and the second light source 300 may be 1200 lumens. Here, the corrected second image information may be obtained by subtracting the pixel grayscale values ​​of the corresponding areas on the first image information and the second image information, so that only the image information generated by the second light source 300 remains on the corrected second image information. By correcting the second image information in this way, the image information generated by the second light source 300, such as light spots or lines, may be more prominently displayed, thereby facilitating the determination of the bottle bottom information 700 and the liquid level information.

[0124] In addition, in the case where the liquid levels of multiple liquid holding bottles 400 need to be determined, the liquid level determination step may include: applying processing parameters to process the second image information to obtain processed image information corresponding to each liquid holding bottle 400, and determining the corresponding liquid level based on the bottle bottom information 700 and liquid level information 800 on the corresponding liquid holding bottle 400 in each processed image information.

[0125] By realizing liquid level determination for a plurality of liquid holding bottles 400, for example, simultaneously acquiring first image information and second image information for a plurality of liquid holding bottles 400 and their holding members 110, and then applying processing information for each liquid holding bottle 400 to process the second image information, the liquid level of each liquid holding bottle 400 can be accurately obtained, even if there are significant differences between the image information, such as the bottle bottom information 700 and the liquid level information 800, between the liquid holding bottles 400. Thus, a very high liquid level determination efficiency can be achieved, costs can be greatly reduced, and it is ensured that the liquid level of each liquid holding bottle 400 is determined precisely and specifically.

[0126] In addition, in the actual liquid level determination process, due to various problems such as environmental interference, shooting angle, liquid holding bottle 400, holding member 110 and system settings, very complex image information may appear. Complex situations may include disconnection of multiple lines, liquid level or bottle bottom light spot, additional brackets installed on special bottles, labels on bottles or scales, characters, patterns, etc. that block the liquid level, condensation on bottles, and other situations that introduce stray light spots. In these complex situations, the bottle bottom information 700 and liquid level information 800 in the processed image information obtained after applying the processing parameters in the liquid level determination step may still not be able to determine the liquid level of the liquid holding bottle, for example, the morphological features of the bottle bottom information and the liquid level information 800 do not meet the predetermined threshold (for example, the length of the liquid level line or the light spot is too short, the highlight range of the bottle bottom information is too large, etc.). Optionally, morphological processing steps may be directly added to these bottle bottom information and liquid level information 800, such as post-processing steps such as connected domains and closed operations for further image correction.

[0127] In a preferred embodiment, the liquid level determination step may include: when at least one of the bottle bottom information 700 and the liquid level information 800 on the liquid holding bottle 400 in the processed image information meets a preset condition (for example, the length of the liquid level line or the light spot is too short, the highlight range of the bottle bottom information 700 is too large, etc.), reprocessing the processed image information based on the pre-stored information corresponding to the specific mark 112 and / or the pre-stored information corresponding to the light source brightness of the second light source 300, and acquiring the liquid level in the liquid holding bottle 400 based on the re-processed image information. For example, it can be known from the pre-stored information corresponding to the brightness of the second light source 300 whether at least one of the bottle bottom information 700 and the liquid level information 800 meets the preset condition due to too high brightness, and the processed image information (and thus the at least one of the bottle bottom information 700 and the liquid level information 800) is reprocessed according to the known brightness. For example, the pre-stored information corresponding to the specific mark 112 may include special processing parameters for various complex situations. For example, during the model creation or data training process, it is found that a certain type of liquid holding bottle 400 is prone to produce multiple liquid level spots under specific circumstances. Even if it is not in this specific situation, it can be considered to reprocess the processed image based on this special processing parameter.

[0128] If the liquid level still cannot be determined, it is also possible to consider re-performing the aforementioned related steps after adjusting the brightness of the second light source 300 or both the first light source 200 and the second light source 300, which will not be repeated here.

[0129] Liquid level determination system

[0130] The present invention also relates to a liquid level determination system for a liquid holding bottle 400. The liquid level determination system may include the aforementioned holding member 110, a first light source 200, and a second light source 300. In addition, the liquid level determination system may also include a rotating body 100 (see Figure 1 ), a plurality of liquid holding bottles 400 may be arranged on the rotating body 100 so as to be able to revolve therewith. Since the photographing device 600 is usually fixed, the plurality of liquid holding bottles 400 may move between the monitoring position and the non-monitoring position with the rotation. The liquid level determination system may determine the liquid level of the multi-channel liquid holding bottles 400 at the monitoring position (including obtaining or collecting image information of the multi-channel liquid holding bottles 400 using the photographing device 600).

[0131] Preferably, the second light source 300 may be located below the bottom of the liquid holding bottle 400 at the monitoring position. More preferably, the second light source 300 may be arranged directly below each liquid holding bottle 400. Advantageously, the first light source 200 may be positioned to face the liquid holding bottle 400, in particular, to face a plurality of liquid holding bottles 400. In particular, the first light source 200 may be arranged at or near the rotation center of the rotating body 100. More preferably, the first light source 200 may be mounted on the photographing device 600.

[0132] In addition, the liquid level determination system may further include a photographing device 600 and a controller associated with (e.g., communicatively connected to) the photographing device 600. The controller may be configured to acquire first image information including the holding member 110 and the bottom of the liquid holding bottle 400 using the photographing device 600 when the holding member 110 and the liquid holding bottle 400 located therein are illuminated by light from the first light source 200, and to acquire second image information including the bottom 410 and the liquid level using the photographing device 600 when the liquid holding bottle 400 is illuminated by light from the second light source 300.

[0133] To this end, the controller may include at least a processing parameter determination module and a liquid level acquisition module. The processing parameter determination module may be configured to acquire the specific mark 112 by performing image recognition on the first image information, and determine the processing parameters based on the position of the specific mark 112 and the pre-stored information corresponding thereto, wherein the processing parameters can be used to process the image information of the area covering at least the bottom 410 and the liquid level of the liquid holding bottle 400. The liquid level acquisition module may be configured to apply the processing parameters to process the second image information to obtain processed image information, and determine the liquid level in the liquid holding bottle 400 based on the bottom information 700 and the liquid level information 800 on the liquid holding bottle 400 in the processed image information.

[0134] In a preferred embodiment, in order to obtain the corrected second image information, the controller may be configured to obtain the second image information when the liquid holding bottle 400 is irradiated by the light from the second light source 300 and the first light source 200. The controller further includes a second image information correction module configured to obtain the corrected second image information by comparing the second image information with the first image information, the corrected second image information including the bottle bottom information 700 and the liquid level information 800 generated on the liquid holding bottle 400 by the light from the second light source 300 irradiating the liquid holding bottle 400. Here, the processing parameter application module may be configured to apply the processing parameters to process the corrected second image information to obtain the processed image information.

[0135] In addition, the controller of the present invention may also be configured to be associated with the first light source 200 and / or the second light source 300 (e.g., communication connection), but this is not necessary. However, preferably, the controller may be configured to adjust the light source brightness of the first light source 200 and / or the second light source 300 when at least one of the bottle bottom information 700 and the liquid level information 800 on the liquid holding bottle 400 in the processed image information meets a preset condition.

[0136] In a preferred embodiment, the controller may include an embedded system, for example, various modules or functional devices such as model deployment, image information determination, light source control and liquid level determination algorithm may be integrated, which will not be described in detail here.

[0137] In a specific application scenario, the liquid level determination system can be used in a sample preparation collection system, and the liquid holding bottle 400 is a sample collection bottle, especially a sample collection bottle of an evaporation device (eg, an accelerated solvent extraction system).

[0138] When the liquid level information is not identified in the aforementioned liquid level acquisition step, the gas supply device 500, such as a collecting needle (see Figure 2 ) is inserted into a predetermined position (e.g., at a small distance from the bottom of the bottle) in a liquid holding bottle 400, such as a sample collection bottle, and gas is supplied through the gas supply device 500. When bubbles are detected, it is confirmed that the liquid level of the sample collection bottle is its capacity value (i.e., the bottle is full), and when no bubbles are detected, it is confirmed that the liquid level of the liquid holding bottle, such as the sample collection bottle, is zero.

[0139] Although the embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to examples of a liquid level determination system and a liquid level determination method for a liquid holding bottle in the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the embodiments within the scope of the present invention can also be applied to other liquid level determination or monitoring occasions (such as industrial fields) with similar structures and / or functions, and in particular can be applied to the biomedical field.

[0140] The foregoing description has presented numerous features and advantages, including various alternative embodiments, and details of the structure and function of systems and devices. This disclosure is intended to be illustrative, not exhaustive or limiting.

Claims

1. A method for determining a liquid level in a liquid containing bottle, wherein: The liquid holding bottle is held in a holding member, and the method comprises the following steps: A first image information acquisition step: irradiating the holding member and the liquid containing bottle located therein with light from a first light source, and acquiring first image information including the holding member and the bottom of the liquid containing bottle; a processing parameter determining step: acquiring a specific mark on the holding member by performing image recognition on the first image information, and determining a processing parameter based on a position of the specific mark and pre-stored information corresponding thereto, wherein the processing parameter can be used to process image information covering at least an area of ​​the bottom of the liquid containing bottle and a liquid level; A second image information acquisition step: allowing light from a second light source to irradiate the bottom of the liquid containing bottle to the liquid level thereof, and acquiring second image information including the bottom of the bottle and the liquid level; Liquid level determination step: applying the processing parameters to process the second image information to obtain processed image information, and determining the liquid level in the liquid holding bottle based on the bottle bottom information and liquid level information on the liquid holding bottle in the processed image information.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The second image information acquisition step includes: while the liquid holding bottle is irradiated with light from the first light source, allowing light from the second light source to irradiate the liquid level through the bottle bottom, and acquiring the second image information; The liquid level determination step comprises: A second image information correction substep: obtaining corrected second image information by comparing the second image information with the first image information, wherein the corrected second image information includes bottle bottom information and liquid level information generated on the liquid containing bottle when the light from the second light source is irradiated onto the liquid containing bottle; Processing parameter application sub-step: applying the processing parameters to process the corrected second image information to obtain the processed image information.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The processing parameter determination step includes: acquiring the bottle bottom information of the liquid containing bottle, and acquiring the processing parameter based on the position of the specific mark, the position of the bottle bottom information and pre-stored information corresponding to the specific mark.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The processing parameter determination step comprises: - locating the object area based on the position of the specific mark and the first pre-stored information corresponding thereto, and acquiring the bottle bottom information within the object area; -Acquiring a processing parameter based on the position of the bottle bottom information and second pre-stored information corresponding to the specific mark.

5. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The processing parameter determination step comprises: - locating the object area based on the position of the specific mark and the first pre-stored information corresponding thereto, and acquiring the bottle bottom information within the object area; - obtaining a first processing parameter based on the position of the bottle bottom information and second pre-stored information corresponding to the specific mark; - determining standard bottle bottom information based on the specific mark, comparing the standard bottle bottom information with the bottle bottom information, and determining a second processing parameter when the difference between the standard bottle bottom information and the bottle bottom information is greater than a predetermined threshold, wherein the second processing parameter is used to perform distortion calibration on the bottle bottom information with reference to the standard bottle bottom information; The liquid level determination step includes: applying the first processing parameter and the second processing parameter to process the second image information to obtain the processed image information.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Each of the plurality of holding members is used to hold a corresponding liquid containing bottle, wherein The first image information acquisition step includes: irradiating the plurality of holding members and the plurality of liquid containing bottles located therein with light from the first light source, and acquiring the first image information of the plurality of holding members and the corresponding bottle bottoms of the plurality of liquid containing bottles; The processing parameter determination step includes: acquiring a specific mark on each of the plurality of holding members by performing image recognition on the first image information, and determining each processing parameter corresponding to each liquid holding bottle based on the position of each specific mark and pre-stored information corresponding thereto, wherein the processing parameter is used to process the image information of an area at least covering the bottom and liquid level of the corresponding liquid holding bottle; The second image information acquisition step includes: irradiating light from a second light source through corresponding bottle bottoms of the plurality of liquid containing bottles to corresponding liquid levels, and acquiring second image information including each bottle bottom and each liquid level; The liquid level determination step includes: applying the processing parameters to process the second image information to obtain processed image information corresponding to each liquid holding bottle, and determining the corresponding liquid level based on the bottle bottom information and liquid level information on the corresponding liquid holding bottle in each processed image information.

7. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The liquid level determining step includes: when at least one of the bottle bottom information and the liquid level information on the liquid holding bottle in the processed image information meets a preset condition, reprocessing the processed image information based on pre-stored information corresponding to the specific mark and / or the light source brightness of the second light source, and acquiring the liquid level in the liquid holding bottle based on the reprocessed image information.

8. A liquid level determination system for a liquid containing bottle, characterized in that: include: a holding member for holding the liquid containing bottle, wherein a specific mark is provided on the holding member; a first light source, the light of the first light source being able to irradiate the holding member and the liquid containing bottle located therein; a second light source, the light from the second light source can be irradiated through the bottom of the liquid containing bottle to the liquid level thereof; Filming equipment; a controller associated with the photographing device, the controller being configured to acquire, using the photographing device, first image information including the holding member and the bottom of the liquid-containing bottle when the holding member and the liquid-containing bottle located therein are illuminated by light from the first light source, and to acquire, using the photographing device, second image information including the bottom of the bottle and the liquid level when the liquid-containing bottle is illuminated by light from the second light source; Wherein, the controller comprises: a processing parameter determination module, the processing parameter determination module being configured to obtain the specific mark by performing image recognition on the first image information, and determine processing parameters based on the position of the specific mark and pre-stored information corresponding thereto, wherein the processing parameters can be used to process image information covering at least an area of ​​the bottom of the liquid containing bottle and a liquid level; A liquid level acquisition module is configured to apply the processing parameters to process the second image information to obtain processed image information, and determine the liquid level in the liquid holding bottle based on the bottle bottom information and liquid level information on the liquid holding bottle in the processed image information.

9. The liquid level determination system according to claim 8, characterized in that: A plurality of liquid holding bottles are arranged on a rotating body so as to be able to revolve therewith, so that the plurality of liquid holding bottles can move between a monitoring position and a non-monitoring position, the second light source is located below the bottle bottoms of the plurality of liquid holding bottles in the monitoring position, and the first light source is positioned to face the plurality of liquid holding bottles.

10. The liquid level determination system according to claim 8, characterized in that: the controller being configured to acquire the second image information when the liquid holding bottle is illuminated by light from the second light source and the first light source; The controller further comprises: a second image information correction module configured to obtain corrected second image information by comparing the second image information with the first image information, wherein the corrected second image information includes bottle bottom information and liquid level information generated on the liquid containing bottle when the light of the second light source is irradiated onto the liquid containing bottle; A processing parameter application module is configured to apply the processing parameters to process the modified second image information to obtain the processed image information.

11. The liquid level determination system according to any one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that: The controller is configured to adjust the light source brightness of the first light source and / or the second light source when at least one of the bottle bottom information and the liquid level information on the liquid containing bottle in the processed image information meets a preset condition.

12. The liquid level determination system according to any one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that: The first light source is installed on the shooting device.

13. The liquid level determination system according to any one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that: The liquid level determination system is used in a sample preparation and collection system, wherein the liquid holding bottle is a sample collection bottle.

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