The seed counting sensor (200) for pneumatic seeding machines comprises a detection chamber (210) within a house (204), said detection chamber allowing the seeds to pass through the sensor and having a center axis (211) extending in the flow direction of the seeds (102); a plurality of light sources (240) arranged within the house (204), outside the detection chamber (210), at predetermined distances from each other, said light sources being in a plane (P) extending substantially perpendicularly to said center axis of the sensor; a plurality of light detectors (250) arranged within the house (204), outside the detection chamber (210) at predetermined distances from each other, said light detectors being in the same plane (P) as the light sources, wherein the number of the light detectors equals to the number of the light sources, and a signal processing unit (502) for controlling operation of the light sources (240) and for processing the electronic signals produced by the light detectors (250).

A conveyor element (2) of a conveyor device conveys bar-shaped products (1) orthogonal to a longitudinal direction (x) of the bar-shaped products (1) oriented in a conveying direction (y). A trigger device (3) provides a trigger signal (S) each time the conveyor element (2) has travelled a predetermined interval. Based upon the respective trigger signal (S), an image (B) is acquired by a camera (4). The image (B) shows front ends of the products (1) in a respective section of the conveyor element (2) corresponding at least to the predetermined interval. Based upon the acquired images (B), the number of bar-shaped products (1) conveyed by the conveyor element (2) is determined.

Devices and methods for counting planar substrates stacked on a first plane are disclosed. Image capturing sensors are arranged collinearly in a manner substantially perpendicular to the first plane. The image capturing sensors are configured to capture images of portions of counting sides of the stacked planar substrates. The image capturing sensors are configured so that the images captured by every two consecutive image capturing sensors comprise an overlapping portion of the stacked planar substrates.

A counting device including a wall that delimits an internal space; an object counter that is positioned in the internal space and includes a measuring lens, which optically delimits a detection zone outside the counting device. The wall of the counting device includes an aperture positioned in front of, preferably centered relative to, the measuring lens, the measuring lens and the aperture being arranged to transmit to the counter a flux emitted by the objects present in the detection zone.

Disclosed are image based counting systems and methods. Image based counting systems and methods employ one or more imaging devices (e.g., one or more color cameras) and one or more illumination devices (e.g., one or more illumination sources to provide variable and/or dynamic lighting). In some examples, the image based counting system provides illumination to a tray upon which one or more items (e.g., pills) are placed. The illuminated items are then imaged by the one or more imaging devices based on one or more imaging techniques or processes to determine and/or present information associated with one or more properties of the item.

A method and an arrangement for detecting and counting articles are disclosed, performing the steps of: providing a detecting station arranged along a passageway for the articles, the detecting station being adapted to establish at least a scanning radiation beam at a cross section of the passageway; passing articles past the detecting station, the detecting station detecting an article upon sensing at least a partial interruption of the scanning radiation beam; and obtaining a count of the detected articles through the passageway, wherein the detecting station include first and second detecting assembly arranged at a predetermined distance from each other along the direction of travel of the articles, which first and second detecting assembly establish a respective scanning radiation beam on a first, respectively second scanning plane at a corresponding cross section of the passageway, and wherein at least a first predetermined reference section of the articles is detected at each scanning plane; a travelling speed of each article is calculated based on the time used by the at least one reference section of the article to travel the predetermined distance between the first and the second scanning planes; at least a second predetermined reference section of the articles, which is separate from the first reference section, is detected at least at one of the first and second scanning plane; and a count of the articles is obtained by calculating a length thereof from the calculated travelling speed and by calculating the time used by the article to cross at least one of said first and second scanning plane.

The method of determining a variable of interest associated with a sample having a quantity of organisms received in a container, the method comprising the steps of: acquiring, from a camera, an image the sample in the container; and determining a value of the variable of interest associated with the sample using the image.

A method and a system for density measurement of zooplankton in situ in an aqueous solution are provided. The method comprises acquiring at least one image of a volume of the aqueous solution; processing the at least one image and identifying particles in the at least one image; analyzing the identified particles based on a sharpness of each particle, and identifying zooplankton to be counted.

A self-contained pill dispenser is disclosed. A housing is provided and a hopper for containing a plurality of pills is supported by the housing. A transport tube receives pills from the hopper. The transport tube has a controllable aperture for facilitating or inhibiting delivery of pills to the transport tube. A microcontroller is also operatively connected to the hopper, the transport tube, and the input aperture. Optionally, a feed chute can be operatively connected between the hopper and the transport tube. The system can self-calibrate the mechanism for counting and dispensing pills by dynamically adjusting the input aperture based upon the stored information representative of the pulse width signal and the amplitude signal.

A method and apparatus for counting belted or bulk ammunition rounds. The modular ammunition counter includes a detachable electronics assembly, an ammunition guide for receiving the ammunition rounds, and a sensor module. The electronics assembly is configured to count the number of ammunition rounds that pass through the coupled ammunition guide. This method of ammunition round counting offers a significant improvement in speed and accuracy compared to manually counting the ammunition rounds by hand.