Location: Cotton Production and Processing Research
Title: Camera inspection system for plastic in cotton module feederAuthor
|
Submitted to: Laboratory Publication
Publication Type: Other Publication Acceptance Date: 3/10/2020 Publication Date: 3/10/2020 Citation: Pelletier, M.G., Holt, G.A., Wanjura, J.D. 2020. Camera inspection system for plastic in cotton module feeder. Laboratory Publication. online. https://www.cotton.org/ncga/upload/ModuleFeeder_Inspection-Simple-Camara-System.pdf Interpretive Summary: The removal of plastic contamination in cotton lint is an issue of top priority to the U.S. cotton industry. One of the main sources of plastic contamination showing up in marketable cotton bales, is plastic used to wrap cotton modules on cotton harvesters. Despite diligent efforts by cotton ginning personnel to remove all plastic encountered during unwrapping of the cotton modules, plastic still finds a way into the cotton gin’s processing system. To help mitigate plastic contamination at the gin; an inspection system was developed to see plastic on the module feeder’s dispersing cylinders, that are normally hidden from view by the incoming feed of the cotton modules. The report covers a simplified version that affords cotton gin personnel a view of the contamination inside the module feeder. The system was tested at two commercial cotton gins, in 2019, and at one commercial gin in the 2018 ginning season. This report details the system and mechanical design along with an over-view coverage of key design issues. Included are the mechanical engineering designs as well as the bill-of-materials part-source list. A discussion of the observational impact the system had on reduction of plastic contamination at the commercial gin is also included. Technical Abstract: The removal of plastic contamination in cotton lint is an issue of top priority to the U.S. cotton industry. One of the main sources of plastic contamination showing up in marketable cotton bales, at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s classing office, is plastic from the module wrap used to wrap cotton modules produced by the new John Deere round module harvesters. Despite diligent efforts by cotton ginning personnel to remove all plastic encountered during unwrapping of the seed cotton modules, plastic still finds a way into the cotton gin’s processing system. To help mitigate plastic contamination at the gin; an inspection system was developed that utilized low-cost color cameras to see plastic on the module feeder’s dispersing cylinders, that are normally hidden from view by the incoming feed of the cotton modules. This technical note presents the design of an automated intelligent machine-vision guided cotton module-feeder inspection system. The system includes a machine-learning program that automatically detects plastic contamination in order to alert the cotton gin personnel as to the presence of plastic contamination on the module feeder’s dispersing cylinders. The system was tested at two commercial cotton gins, in 2019, and at one commercial gin in the 2018 cotton-ginning season. This report describes a simplified version that is suitable for rapid adoption by the cotton industry. Report covers the over-all system along with an over-view and coverage of key design issues. Included in the report are the mechanical engineering designs as well as the bill-of-materials part-source list. A discussion of the observational impact the system had on reduction of plastic contamination is also included. |
