Browsing by Author "Dr. Larry F. Stikeleather, Committee Member"

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    Design of a Pneumatic Baling System for Burley and Flue-cured Tobacco.
    (2008-06-11) Boaz, Robert Dale; Dr. W. David Smith, Committee Member; Dr. Larry F. Stikeleather, Committee Member; Dr. Michael D. Boyette, Committee Chair
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    The Development of a Machine Vision System to Measure the Shape of a Sweetpotato Root
    (2005-02-21) Mummert, Craig Nevin; Dr Micheal D. Boyette, Committee Chair; Dr. Larry F. Stikeleather, Committee Member; Dr. M. K. Ramasubramanian, Committee Member
    The objective of this project was to develop and investigate whether a machine vision system can quantitatively describe the physical characteristics of a sweetpotato and then produce a unique number that is a more accurate descriptor of the root. Machine vision has been shown to accurately measure the size and shape of various agricultural commodities by mapping their surfaces. This map can then be used to describe the characteristics of the object. For this study a system was developed to rotate the root in front of a CCD imaging device that maps the entire surface of the sweetpotato. Algorithms were then developed to quantitatively measure, from this map, the length of the sweetpotato; the width of the sweetpotato; the ratio of length to width and how much the spine of the sweetpotato bends. These characteristics are then used to create a 10 digit numerical identifier that would uniquely describe each sweetpotato. The developed system was initially tested using five standard shaped objects. The system was shown to accurately measure both the length and width and produced straightness numbers that were indicative of the object being tested. 10 sweetpotatoes were then tested under the same procedure as the spheres. The results showed that the system could accurately measure the length and width for each sweetpotato within several millimeters. The system produced straightness numbers that were unique and reasonable for each sweetpotato.