抄録
We describe the detection method of shady objects which are unexpectedly mixed in kneaded food material while various kind of processing are made. Also, we propose automatic measurement of total area of the food material. We focus on the light transmittivity because the material has a tendency to diffuse light and produce shadows depending on the mixtures even when the objects are nonmetallic, i.e. plastic, vinyl, wood, and etc.. We devise a milky white hood for illuminating the object so that the shadow becomes clear not only at material center but also at its tip when the mixture exists. The transmitted light is collected by photodiodes and digitized for logical processing. Also, formulation for estimating the total area by signal processing is derived. Experimental results obtained in real time are shown to prove the validity of the detection method for unexpected mixtures, number of piled objects, and total area.
