Indian Journal of Science and Technology

Abstract

Quality of food products is important and highly demanded by customers in food industry. All physical attributions (size, shape, texture, concentration and color) of food products have to be considered. Monitoring the particle parameters can affect food flavor, texture, appearance, product size and shelf life. Most of the monitoring systems used in the food industry are based on the grading and sorting inspection such as sampling and Computer Vision technique. However, each of them has their limitations. Therefore, an optical tomography based on Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) area image sensor is developed to monitor these particle parameters by visualizing the particle non-invasively inside a flow pipe. The complete optical tomography system has been fabricated to produce a reliable tool to monitor particle characterization and to detect solid particles in flow pipe. The system offers reliable reconstructed images in monitoring particle concentration in air and liquid flows, particle shape and size. The optical tomography system consists of a lighting system, a sensing system that contains a measurement section and CMOS area image sensors, a Data Acquisition System (DAQ) that made up from a microcontroller module, and an image reconstruction system based on MATLAB software. The results obtained are sufficient to collect the qualitative and quantitative information of the particles used in the system to monitor concentration profile in air and liquid.
Keywords: CMOS, Image, Reconstruction, Tomography