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US 4,963,035 AGranted
Fish sorting machine
AssigneeGrove Telecommunications Ltd.
InventorsKevin McCarthy, Patrick DeBourke
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and apparatus for sorting fish comprising receiving the image of a fish in a video camera and storing it in an image plane memory. The boundary values of the image are determined, as well as the areas, length and width of the image. Ratios of predetermined ones of the areas, length and/or width, are determined, and the specie of the fish is indicated from predetermined ratios of those areas.
Claims18
Means for sorting fish comprising:
- (a) means for receiving an image of a fish in a video camera,
- (b) means for receiving the image from the camera and for storing it in an image plane memory,
- (c) means for determining stored values of the width of the fish along lines perpendicular to the principal axis of the fish, and stored values of the position of the first and last one of said lines along said principal axis which intersect said image,
- (d) means for determining the positions of midpoints between determined width boundary values, and for determining a length of lines joining said midpoints,
- (e) means for summing the length of said lines to determine the length of the fish.
2 more elements
Means for sorting fish comprising:
- (a) a conveyor belt for carrying more than one row of fish along row axes parallel to the axis of the conveyor belt,
- (b) means for illuminating the fish,
- (c) a video camera spaced from the fish for receiving at least outline images of the fish carried along the belt,
- (d) a video memory having at least 3 bit planes connected to the video camera,
- (e) means for storing an image of a fish in a first row received from the video camera in a first bit plane of the video memory,
- (f) means for determining the presence of the image and for transferring the image of the fish to a second bit plane of the video memory,
- (g) means for determining the size and orientation of the fish from stored edge values of the image in the second bit plane,
- (h) means for storing the image of another fish in another row received from the video camera in the first bit plane of the video memory,
- (i) means for determining the size and orientation of the other fish from the stored edge values of the image of the other fish in the first bit plane,
- (j) means for transferring the image of the other fish to a third bit plane,
- whereby the same video memory can be used for characteristic analysis of fish carried by the conveyor belt and display by the video monitor of more than one row of said fish.
8 more elements
A method for sorting fish comprising:
- (a) establishing digital values of bit plane pixel positions at edges of an image of a fish stored on a bit plane, along straight lines across the fish,
- (b) determining midpoints between said values,
- (c) summing the distances between said midpoints, to obtain a digital value signal representative of a length of the fish,
- (d) determining the midpoint of said summed distance,
- (e) establishing the sum of the distance between said bit plane pixel positions at the edge of the image to the left of the midpoint of said summed distances between said midpoint to obtain a left area signal,
- (f) establishing the sum of the distance between said bit plane pixel positions at the edge of the image to the right of the midpoint of said summed distances between said midpoints to obtain a right area signal, and
- (g) comparing the left area signal with the right area signal and providing a signal indicative of the fish being positioned tail to the left in the event the left area signal is equal to or smaller than the right area signal.
4 more elements
A method for sorting fish, including the steps of:
- (a) receiving on a first bit plane of a digital memory the most significant bit values of an image of a fish as it is viewed in a video camera,
- (b) repeatedly checking a position of said image on the first bit plane,
- (c) transferring the image to a second bit plane for analysis of its dimensions when the progressing front of the image passes a predetermined line of pixels orthogonal to a direction of progress of the image, which are in within a predetermined distance from an edge of the first bit plane.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.