Location: Cotton Ginning Research
Project Number: 6066-41440-009-017-R
Project Type: Reimbursable Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Mar 1, 2024
End Date: Dec 31, 2024
Objective:
1. Continue the development and refinement of a robotic system for fiber quality measurements at the gin.
2. Explore the feasibility of in-situ micronaire measurement at the bale press.
3. Investigate the influence of non-lint content on fiber quality measurements via High Volume Instrument.
Approach:
Continue the development and refinement of a robotic system for fiber quality measurements at the gin Continue the development and refinement of a robotic system for fiber quality measurements at the gin.
A system for determining leaf grade based on particle count and percent area is well-developed, however work is needed to improve the system in several areas. The determination of count and area in a consistent manner will be addressed through image analysis (IA) algorithm improvement. The triggering system and ability to pair bale identification with images will be refined to require little to no post-season human intervention. Work to address the determination of color grade will be emphasized.
Explore the feasibility of in-situ micronaire measurement at the bale press
A system will be developed to record the bale pressure and ram position during the final compression of a bale of cotton at the press. This system will be installed at a commercial cotton gin in White Oak, MO. Integration of the data from the bale pressure, ram position, moisture content, and final bale weights will then be correlated to classing results for micronaire. Samples will be collected on at least 100 bales of known variety at the cotton gin for micronaire testing at the Cotton Ginning Research Unit to aid in understanding variability and precision as compared to AMS classing results.
Investigate the influence of non-lint content on fiber quality measurements via High Volume Instrument.
Several cottons with diverse length, color, and micronaire will be mechanically cleaned to remove all impurities. New fiber quality measurements will be gathered on the cleaned cottons. Known amounts of specific types and blends of non-lint materials will be uniformly blended back into the samples. A new set of high volume instrument measurements will be taken on each blended sample. Data analysis will be out-sourced to a collaborator to build a model of the influence of non-lint content type and amount on individual quality traits.
