A method of characterizing and monitoring a fermentation process includes acquiring online Raman spectra of a fermentation process within a fermenter vessel at different times during the fermentation process to generate a training data set; acquiring physical samples from fermentation process near in time to the acquired Raman spectra; performing offline measurements of the target analyte properties and/or compositions using an assay measurement technique; generating a correlative model of the target analyte such that spectral changes in the training data set correlate with the offline measurements of the target analyte properties and/or compositions; acquiring online Raman spectra of a subsequent run of the fermentation process within the fermenter vessel at different times during the run to generate a process data set; and applying the correlative model to the process data set to qualitatively and/or quantitatively predict a value of a property and/or composition of the target analyte.

A bale monitoring system includes an imaging device that is operable to capture a stereoscopic image of a bale. A computing compares the stereoscopic image of the bale to a three-dimensional standard to identify a deviation of the bale from the three-dimensional standard. The computing device may then assign the bale a shape quality score based on the deviation of the bale from the three-dimensional standard. The shape quality score may indicate a magnitude of the deviation of the bale from the three-dimensional standard. Additionally, the stereoscopic image may be analyzed to identify characteristics of the bale, such as a broken wrap material or an improperly formed bale.

The present technology relates to a sensing system, a sensing method, and a sensing device which are capable of performing measurement with higher accuracy. A sensing system is configured such that a plurality of reference reflection regions having a reflectance corresponding to an inspection target are prepared for each wavelength band which is a target for sensing of the inspection target as reference reflection regions, and is configured to sense the reference reflection region having a reflectance corresponding to the inspection target for each wavelength band which is a target for sensing of the inspection target at the time of sensing a region including the inspection target and the reference reflection region. The present technology can be applied to a system for measuring a vegetation index such as a normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI).

The present invention relates to systems and methods for monitoring agricultural products. In particular, the present invention relates to monitoring fruit production, plant growth, and plant vitality. According to embodiments of the invention, a plant analysis system is configured determine a spectral signature of a plant based on spectral data, and plant color based on photographic data. The spectral signatures and plant color are associated with assembled point cloud data. Morphological data of the plant can be generated based on the assembled point cloud data. A record of the plant can be created that associates the plant with the spectral signature, plant color, spectral data, assembled point cloud data, and morphological data, and stored in a library.

A method for testing cellular level water content and distribution in fruit and vegetable tissues based on Raman spectroscopy comprises preprocessing of samples, acquisition and preprocessing of imaging spectra, Gaussian peak-separation fitting of imaging spectra, pseudocolor imaging according to the fitting results, and visualization of distribution of water content and water bonding state at the cell level. The distribution of water content and water binding state is visualized at the cellular level in the fruit and vegetable tissues for the first time, and relatively reliable quantitative analysis results of the content of water with different bonding states according to the visualization imaging results is obtained. The new method for testing cellular level water content in fruit and vegetable tissues solves the current problem of not being able to detect cellular level water changes in fruit and vegetable processing, and has a good prospect for the research on fruit and vegetables processing.

A system and a method for on-line analysis of a structure of dried shredded tobacco are provided. The system includes a shredded tobacco structure on-line analysis module, a shredded tobacco filling capacity prediction model module, and an early-warning module. The shredded tobacco structure on-line analysis module includes a sample extraction unit, a sample analysis unit and a shredded tobacco filling capacity data acquisition unit. The shredded tobacco filling capacity prediction model module includes a model parameter screening unit and a model construction unit. An early-warning threshold is provided in the early-warning module, and when a deviation of a predicted shredded tobacco filling capacity from a standard value exceeds the early-warning threshold, an alarm is given. The new system is an intelligent system with functions of shredded tobacco structure analysis, shredded tobacco filling capacity prediction, and abnormality early-warning determination and analysis.

A distributed control system for use in an assembly line grow pod includes a master controller and a hardware controller device. The master controller includes a first processor and a first memory for storing a first set of instructions that dictates plant growing operations and a second set of instructions that dictates a plurality of distributed control functions. The hardware controller device is coupled to the master controller via a plug-in network interface. The hardware controller device includes a second processor and a second memory for storing a third set of instructions that dictate a selected control function of the plurality of distributed control functions. Upon the plug-in connection, the master controller identifies an address of the hardware controller device and sends a set of parameters defining a plurality of tasks relating to the selected control function.

A device of measuring an amount of lipid accumulation in microalgae includes a flow cell through which a fluid containing the microalgae is supplied to flow, an excitation light source irradiating the flow cell with excitation light, a fluorescence detector detecting autofluorescence generated from a chloroplast of each of the microalgae that have been irradiated with the excitation light, a scattered light detector detecting scattered light caused by each of the microalgae that have been irradiated with the excitation light, and an arithmetic unit calculating a size of the microalga from intensity of the scattered light, calculating a fluorescence density corresponding to intensity of the autofluorescence generated from the chloroplast per unit size of the microalga based on both the intensity of the autofluorescence generated from the chloroplast and the size of the microalga, and calculating an amount of lipid accumulation per microalga from the fluorescence density.

A method for removing foreign matter from an agricultural product stream of a manufacturing process. The method includes conveying a product stream past an inspection station; scanning a region of the agricultural product stream as it passes the inspection station using at least one light source of a single or different wavelengths; generating hyperspectral images from the scanned region; determining a spectral fingerprint for the agricultural product stream from the hyperspectral images; comparing the spectral fingerprint obtained in step (c) to a spectral fingerprint database containing a plurality of fingerprints using a computer processor to determine whether foreign matter is present and, if present, generating a signal in response thereto; and removing a portion of the conveyed product stream in response to the signal. A system for detecting foreign matter within an agricultural product stream is also provided.

Methods are provided for determining plant stress, including: using a computer-based camera system having thermal imaging and visual imaging to capture foliage at close proximity of at least one plant to provide high resolution images/video thereof; analyzing both thermal and visual images/video therefrom to form a composite image; determining the thermal activity of the composite image/video and photosynthesis state of the at least one plant; and deriving the plant stress from the determination. A handheld computer-based camera system is also provided and includes a smartphone and thermal imaging device.