Use of linescan cameras and a DSP processing system for high-speed wood inspection

This paper describes the implementation of a high speed inspection system for the wood processing industry. This was realized by a major European manufacturer of wood processing equipment, who is a customer of Loughborough Sound Images plc for the DSP based image processing hardware. The system provides quality inspection and control for planks of wood which have been cut from larger logs, and aims to measure the following factors: (1) Knots in the planks caused by branches in the original tree. (2) Cracks in the cut planks. (3) 'Graining' in the cut planks, where the grain pattern is very deep and has affected the surface smoothness of the wood. The range of factors to be measured requires that a combination of novel algorithms be used, and an overview of these is given in the paper. A major part of the implementation is the overall system architecture and design, and this also is described. Special consideration is given to how the algorithms were implemented on the equipment chosen and how the considerable technical problems in this particular high speed implementation were solved.