Researchers at the Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT) and Fraunhofer-IOSB in Germany have developed a system that makes sorting bulk material faster, cheaper and more careful. They state that on their website.
Granular goods are encountered in many industries and in many forms: in construction, logistics, chemistry and agriculture in the form of coal, sand, pebbles, road salt, diamonds, grain, sugar, coffee, grapes, waste. All these goods are sorted by quality and size. To date, this is done by belt sorting machines. Tens of thousands of such machines are operable in Germany.
Distinguishing objects better
Regular belt sorting machines scan the material to be sorted with a camera and unwanted particles are blown out with air blasts.
But a disadvantage of these machines is that the cameras only scan the granular material over a short distance on the belt, allowing only rough sorting. As a result, sorting often has to be done several times in a row to get the desired effect.
The researchers believe they can solve this problem with the new way of sorting they have developed. In this, cameras inspect the bulk material in question more accurately and from multiple angles, allowing different objects to be better distinguished. In addition, algorithms have been integrated to predict how the objects move across the belt based on images. 'Foreign' particles can thus be sorted out in a more targeted way.
Whole and half balls
On KIT's website, the researchers explain the sorting system by means of pellets and half pellets. "From above, they look the same, but where half balls usually stay on the belt, full balls bounce across the belt, making sorting considerably more difficult. From the side, however, the bullets and half bullets are easy to distinguish. Moreover, the system could now predict their respective behaviour and optimally adjust the operation accordingly, and thus sort better."
Interest in the technology has reportedly already been shown from the (German) industry because it makes classification a lot more accurate. This not only saves time but also ensures that raw materials are saved. Besides the new system, the scientists have also devised a way to quickly and economically improve the accuracy of existing sorting systems. This would only require updating the software.
Apart from KIT and the Fraunhofer-Institut für Optronik, Systemtechnik und Bildauswertung (IOSB), the Ruhr-Universität Bochum and the Technische Universität Berlin are also participating in the project. Here, the researchers focus in particular on the realistic simulation of bulk materials and the numerical interpretation of sorting systems.
Source: Karlsruher Institut für Technologie(KIT)
By: Kelly Bakker
