Method and measurement system for determining characteristics of particles of a bulk material

A method for determining characteristics of particles of a bulk material such as fertilizer, seed or the like, comprising:

• providing a heap of particles of a bulk material to be distributed such as fertilizer, seed or the like by a distribution machine;
• providing a measurement tool having an optical landmark on a front side of the measurement tool;
• providing the measurement tool in a measurement position in which the heaped particles of the bulk material are provided in proximity to the measurement tool;
• providing a camera device configured to detect images;
• detecting image data by the camera device, the image data indicative of an image of the front side of the measurement tool provided in the measurement position and the heaped particles of the bulk material provided in proximity to the measurement tool;
• and
• determining characteristics of the particles of the bulk material from image data analysis of the image data, comprising, in one or more processors:
• determining the optical landmark from the image data;
• in response to determining the optical landmark, providing dimensional data assigned to and indicative of dimensional characteristics of the optical landmark;
• and
• determining characteristics of the particles of the bulk material taking into account the dimensional data.