Automatic image processing and analysis of rock fragmentation-comparison of systems and new guidelines for testing the systems

Abstract The development of an automatic image processing and analysis system for rock fragmentation was started in Lulea in the beginning of the 1980's and the result was presented at Fragblast 1 (First International Symposium on Rock Fragmentation by Blasting) in Lulea in 1983. Since that, many countries like; Australia, Canada, France, Germany and USA have started their own development of automatic image processing and analysis systems. The ISRM Commission on Fragmentation by Blasting found that the time had come to make a state of the art report of the technique and the former ISRM President John Franklin was asked to arrange a workshop in connection to Fragblast 5 in Montreal in co-operation with Takis Katsabanis from Queens University, Ontario, Canada. Some principal data from Automatic image processing and analysis systems presented at the workshop are collected and compared in this paper. Also strategic issues regarding fragmentation analysis and the presentation of fragment size distributions, wh...