A method of automatically orienting symmetric and asymmetric produce items, such as apples for example, is provided. Individual items of produce are manipulated by a programmable manipulator within the view of one or more depth imaging cameras. Digital three dimensional characterizations of the surface of the produce items are generated by the depth imaging camera or cameras and are utilized by a computer connected to the depth imaging camera or cameras to locate the stem and blossom of each produce item. Asymmetric produce items, such as apples with dropped shoulders as well as symmetric produce items can be properly oriented and processed automatically.

In some embodiments, apparatuses, systems, and methods are provided herein useful to assessing products. In some embodiments, an enclosure for use in assessing products comprises a housing including a door configured to allow placement of a product within the housing, a product holding surface located within the housing allowing pictures to be taken through the product holding surface and configured to support the product, a first image capture device configured to capture an image of the product from a first perspective, a second image capture device configured to capture an image of the product from a second perspective, and wherein the image of the product from the second perspective is captured through the product holding surface, and a lighting element, wherein the lighting element is located within the housing, and wherein the lighting element is configured to provide lighting within the housing.

Procedure for the detection of bitter almonds based on the processing of digital images, and a system and device associated therewith. Detection procedure and system for the automated classification of sweet and bitter almonds based on the processing of digital images. The fluorescence of the cyanogenic compounds naturally present in almonds generates a clear difference in colour between sweet and bitter almonds which subsequently is analysed and classified by means of a computer program. The invention also includes the device, either portable or automatic, for carrying out the classification of bitter or sweet almonds. This device will be necessary during the goods reception process and in the validation/verification of the quality of the finished product, prior to the loading and transport process.

The invention relates to a method and device for orienting an umbilicated fruit, in which, during a first orientation phase (22), the presence of at least a portion of an umbilicus is detected in at least one initial image (II), then the fruit is driven (24) in spinning rotation about a first axis of rotation at an angular amplitude of between 5° and 45°, and then the presence of at least a portion of an umbilicus is detected in at least one subsequent image (IU). If at least a portion of an umbilicus is detected in at least one initial image (II) and no longer detected in each subsequent image (IU), the first orientation phase is stopped and the method is continued.

Health of perishable commodities such as eatables deteriorate over time. State of art systems for health monitoring of perishable commodities rely on measurement of limited parameters and also fail to consider effect of environment on the health of the perishable commodities. Disclosed herein is an apparatus and method for multimodal sensing and monitoring of perishable commodities. The apparatus allows to change environment within a closed chamber in which the perishable commodity being monitored is kept, and in turn allows to generate health data in different environment settings. This data is used to generate a health model. Data collected in real-time are processed with the health model to establish a correlation with at least one image, wherein each of such images in the health model represents certain health state. Based on the established correlation, health of the perishable commodity is determined.

Proposed is a smart method of providing information about green vegetable juice, the method including: obtaining juice-extraction information which includes information about juice-extraction time of the green vegetable juice, information about weight of the green vegetable juice, and information about ingredients for the green vegetable juice; receiving intake information about the green vegetable juice from a user; calculating change in the weight and freshness of stored green vegetable juice based on the juice-extraction information and the intake information; and generating and displaying a smart button with status information about the stored green vegetable juice based on the calculated change in the weight and freshness of the green vegetable juice. By this method, it is possible to intuitively know the weight and the freshness of the stored green vegetable juice.

An agricultural harvesting machine, with at least one work assembly and a monitoring assembly, is disclosed. The agricultural harvesting machine transports harvested material in a harvested material flow along a harvested material transport path. The monitoring assembly includes an optical measuring system positioned on the harvested material transport path and an evaluation device configured to determine at least one harvested material parameter. The optical measuring system includes a first optical sensor that senses spatially-resolved image data indicative of visible light in a first section and second optical sensor that senses image data indicative of invisible light in a second section that at least partly overlaps the first section. The evaluation device correlates the image data for the overlapping section from the first optical sensor and from the second optical sensor and determines, based on the correlation, at least one harvested material parameter.

The present invention discloses a bionic SERS substrate of a metal-based compound eye bowl structure, a construction method and application. The bionic SERS substrate of the metal-based compound eye bowl structure of the present invention consists of a metal bowl and a cone-shaped structure substrate in an ordered hierarchy manner. The metal bowl is of a continuously and closely arranged single-layer bowl structure. A height of the metal bowl is 0.01-10 μm, and a bowl opening diameter is 0.01-10 μm. A cone is a micron pyramid cone, and a height of the micron pyramid cone is 1-100 μm. The present invention assembles the metal bowl on a surface of the substrate of the micron pyramid cone structure with great fluctuation by a solid-liquid interface chemical reduction method and a small ball template method, and further constructs a 3D SERS substrate with a bionic compound eye structure.

A food item freshness notification system may include a remote device and a gas sensor configured to sense gas adjacent the food item and generate food item freshness data related thereto. The food item freshness notification system may also include a food item freshness server configured to obtain the food item freshness data from the gas sensor and determine a freshness level for the food item based upon the food item freshness data. The food item freshness server may also be configured to communicate a notification to the remote device based upon the freshness level.

The present invention relates to the field of antibodies and their application in food and feedstuff quality control. In particular, the invention relates to a method for the manufacture of an antibody that specifically binds to soy Gly m 8 protein wherein said method comprises immunising an animal with the purified soy Glym8 protein, wherein said soy Glym8 protein has been obtained by expressing soy Glym8 protein in plants, and preferably, tobacco plants and purifying the soy Glym8 protein from said plants and, preferably, tobacco plants and obtaining an antibody from the animal which specifically bind to soy Gly m8 protein, wherein the animal will be sacrificed. Moreover, the invention contemplates an antibody obtained by said method as well as the use of said antibody for detecting soy material in a food preparation or feedstuff preparation. Further, a method for detecting soy material in a food preparation or feedstuff preparation and a kit for carrying out said method are provided.