Wood Rotation Determination via Virtual X-Ray Comparison
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Solution Overview
Problem
The woodworking industry faces challenges in establishing a correlation between a piece of wood during a predetermined examination/working step and the same piece of wood during other steps, particularly when the wood has undergone changes in water content, necessitating an effective method to determine the rotation of logs and wood products accurately.
Innovation Solution
A method involving tomographic reconstruction and X-ray information comparison is used to identify and determine the rotation of wood pieces by simulating X-ray examinations on saved reconstructions, allowing for recognition even after changes in water content, through iterative processes of selecting, calculating, and comparing real and virtual X-ray information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If optical methods are used to determine wood orientation, then the measurement can be performed visually, but the method cannot accurately track the same piece of wood through water content changes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a digital copy (tomographic reconstruction) of the wood's internal structure that can be stored and compared at different times. This virtual model serves as a reference that doesn't change with water content variations, allowing reliable identification of the same wood piece across different processing stages.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs a preliminary tomographic scan to create a reference model of the wood's internal structure before any processing occurs. This pre-established reference is then used for comparison at later stages, enabling tracking of the same wood piece through various processing steps including drying.
2Measurement precision
If X-ray tomography is performed on each piece of wood at every processing stage, then accurate identification is possible, but the production time and costs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of performing physical X-ray scans at every stage, the patent creates a digital copy (tomographic reconstruction) once and uses this virtual model for repeated comparisons. This eliminates the need for repeated expensive and time-consuming physical scans while maintaining identification accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the physical mechanical process of repeated X-ray scanning with a computational process. Virtual X-ray information is generated by rotating the stored tomographic reconstruction data in memory, substituting repeated physical measurements with digital signal processing operations.
3Measurement precision
If multiple X-ray scans are performed from different directions to determine rotation, then accurate rotation determination is achieved, but the complexity and time required increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the need for physically rotating the wood piece or performing multiple physical X-ray scans with a computational approach. The stored three-dimensional tomographic reconstruction is virtually rotated in memory to generate X-ray information from any desired direction, achieving the same measurement precision without mechanical complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from two-dimensional X-ray projections to a three-dimensional tomographic reconstruction. This additional dimensional information allows virtual rotation and multi-directional analysis from a single physical scan, eliminating the need for multiple physical scans from different angles.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This method enables accurate identification and rotation determination of wood pieces relative to a known starting condition, facilitating efficient working processes and internal property evaluation, with low production costs and ease of implementation.
Implementation Method 1
preliminarily acquiring a tomographic reconstruction of the piece of wood
Implementation Method 2
acquire at least a piece of real X-ray information about the piece of wood
Data Source
AI summary
A method for determining rotation of a piece of wood, preferably a log, with reference to a known starting condition, comprises the steps of: preliminarily acquiring a tomographic reconstruction of the piece of wood defining the known starting condition; subsequently carrying out a X-ray of the piece of wood to acquire at least a piece of real X-ray information about the piece of wood; simulating the carrying out, on the tomographic reconstruction of the piece of wood, of a plurality of X-rays, to obtain a corresponding plurality of pieces of virtual X-ray information; comparing the piece of real X-ray information and the pieces of virtual X-ray information; on the basis of that comparison, identifying, with reference to the tomographic reconstruction, a best virtual direction of observation for which the piece of virtual X-ray information is the most similar to the piece of real X-ray information; and determining the rotation of the piece of wood with reference to the known starting condition as a function of the orientation that the so identified best virtual direction of observation presents with regard to the known starting condition.