Automated Fish Sorting via Optical Imaging and Conveying
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Solution Overview
Problem
The fish farming industry faces challenges with manual operations leading to low precision in fish counting, biomass measurement, sea lice counting, disease surveillance, and monitoring fish health and growth, resulting in significant economic losses and stress on fish due to inadequate treatment methods and lack of efficient sorting solutions.
Innovation Solution
A device comprising a sorting chamber with inlet and outlet ports and a conveying device that guides fish to specific outlets based on signals from a processing device, using guide elements and monitoring systems to efficiently sort fish while minimizing stress, allowing for precise sorting and treatment or holding of individual fish.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If manual operations are used for fish sorting and monitoring, then operational simplicity is maintained, but precision in fish counting, biomass measurement, and health monitoring deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical operations with an automated system combining optical imaging, computer vision algorithms, and robotic conveying mechanisms. The processing device captures images of fish, analyzes them digitally to determine health status and measurements, and automatically controls conveying device movement to sort fish, eliminating manual counting and monitoring while achieving high precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables fish to be sorted and monitored through their own natural swimming behavior. Fish swim through the sorting chamber voluntarily, and the system automatically captures images and makes sorting decisions based on their individual characteristics, eliminating the need for manual handling while maintaining operational simplicity.
2Productivity
If conventional treatment methods are applied to entire fish populations, then treatment efficiency is improved, but fish stress and mucous layer damage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the fish population into individual units for separate assessment and treatment. The processing device analyzes each fish individually through imaging, identifies specific health issues for each fish, and enables selective sorting to targeted treatment areas. This allows precise treatment of only affected fish rather than treating entire populations, reducing overall stress and chemical exposure.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies different treatment approaches to different fish based on their individual health status. Healthy fish are directed to normal holding areas while diseased fish are sorted to specific treatment zones. The conveying device can be positioned to guide specific fish to appropriate destinations, enabling localized treatment strategies tailored to each fish's condition.
3Ease of operation
If fish are concentrated in smaller volumes for treatment, then treatment accessibility is improved, but fish stress and vulnerability increase
Solution Approach 1:
The conveying device acts as an intermediary mechanism that gently guides fish to treatment areas without requiring concentration in small volumes. The device moves fish individually or in small groups through the sorting chamber to designated outlet ports leading to treatment zones, maintaining comfortable swimming conditions while ensuring easy access to treatment areas.
4Measurement precision
If automatic fish sorting systems are implemented, then sorting precision is improved, but device complexity and initial resource investment increase
Solution Approach 1:
The processing device serves multiple functions: capturing images, analyzing fish health status, determining biomass measurements, making sorting decisions, and controlling the conveying device. This multi-functional integration achieves high sorting precision while avoiding the need for separate complex systems for each function, thereby reducing overall device complexity.
Data Source
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AI summary
A method of sorting live fish comprises guiding fish from a holding area (12, 25) through a recording device (14, 24) and identify features of individual fish characterizing the condition of the fish and individuals. Based on the identified features, a desired action for each individual fish is decided, and each individual fish is subsequently guided to one or more destinations in which the desired action can be performed on the fish. Correspondingly, a system (10) for sorting live fish comprises a holding area (12, 25) for holding live fish, and a device (14) for recording health and physical development of fish in the holding area (12, 25). The device (14) for recording health and physical development comprises a recording area for the recording. A sorting device (14) is arranged in or after the recording area for sorting fish, and is connected to the one or more transfer devices for transferring fish to one or more destinations.