Blueberry Sorting Recirculation Feedback Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current automated systems for handling horticultural products like blueberries face productivity drops and increased reprocessing due to technical limitations in video camera operations, leading to inefficient sorting and potential damage to the fruits.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus with a recirculation conveyor belt and sensors to detect product accumulation and malfunctions, allowing for prompt intervention and minimizing reprocessing, ensuring high reliability and safety with modest costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If recirculation devices are used to retrieve fruits for which reading is not performed, then reliability of product sorting is improved, but productivity is significantly reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by monitoring the number of recirculated fruits and comparing it against threshold values. When the count exceeds the threshold, the system generates an alarm signal indicating potential video camera malfunction, allowing operators to intervene and maintain both sorting accuracy and productivity
Solution Approach 2:
A counting device acts as an intermediary between the recirculation mechanism and the control system. This intermediary monitors recirculation frequency and translates it into actionable information through alarm signals, enabling the system to balance reliability and productivity without direct human intervention in the sorting process
2Reliability
If automated recirculation operation continues without intervention, then rejection of undistributed products is avoided, but operation time in non-optimal conditions increases
Solution Approach 1:
The alarm system provides continuous feedback on system performance by monitoring recirculation counts. This feedback mechanism detects non-optimal operating conditions early and alerts operators, preventing prolonged operation in degraded states while maintaining automated sorting accuracy
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs self-monitoring through the counting device and alarm mechanism, automatically detecting when video camera performance degrades. This self-service capability allows the system to maintain reliability while minimizing time loss by alerting operators only when intervention is necessary
3Reliability
If recirculation apparatus capacity is exceeded by untreated fruits, then product recovery is maintained, but jamming and fruit deterioration occur
Solution Approach 1:
The monitoring system provides feedback on recirculation volume and detects when the recirculation apparatus approaches capacity limits. By alerting operators before capacity is exceeded, the system maintains product recovery while preventing harmful jamming and fruit deterioration
Solution Approach 2:
The alarm system acts as a preventive measure by warning operators before the recirculation apparatus becomes overloaded. This beforehand cushioning allows operators to intervene and empty the recirculation apparatus before jamming occurs, protecting fruits from damage while maintaining recovery operations
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus for treating horticultural products, such as blueberries and the like, includes in series at least one station for loading the horticultural products, at least one preliminary checking station, at least one alignment station, for their subsequent advancement aligned on at least one row, at least one viewing station, for acquiring information related to at least one parameter of interest of each horticultural product, such as the color, size, shape, sugar content, defectiveness, and the like, at least one distribution station, for sorting the products into uniform subgroups, as a function of the information acquired by the viewing station, and at least one recirculation apparatus for returning, at least to the viewing station, any horticultural products that have not been sorted by the distribution station.