Location and characterization of the stem-calyx area on oranges by computer vision

Three image analysis methods were studied and evaluated to solve the problem of removing long stems attached to mechanically harvested oranges: colour segmentation based on linear discriminant analysis, contour curvature analysis, and a thinning process which involves iterating until the stem becomes a skeleton. These techniques are able to determine the presence or absence of a stem with certainty, to locate the stems from random views with more than 90% accuracy and from profile images with an accuracy ranging from 92.4% to 100% depending on the method used. Finally, determination of the length and cutting point of the stem is achieved with only 3.8% of failures. (C) 1996 Silsoe Research Institute