KR-20260064075-A - APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SORTING SEEFOOD

Abstract

The present invention relates to a fish and shellfish sorting device and method, and more specifically, to a fish and shellfish sorting device and method that automatically sorts fish and shellfish by size using a camera. The seafood sorting device of the present invention comprises: a shooting unit equipped with an upper camera for photographing the upper part of seafood transported through a transport means and a side camera for photographing the side part of the seafood transported; an image processing unit for extracting an image of seafood by analyzing images captured by the upper camera and the side camera; a calculation unit for estimating the volume of seafood by analyzing the image of seafood extracted by the image processing unit; and a control unit for sorting seafood according to preset sizes based on the volume value of seafood estimated by the calculation unit and outputting a sorting signal by grade.

Inventors

• 서진호
• 김성재
• 강민진
• 조석호

Assignees

• 국립부경대학교 산학협력단

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20241031

Claims (4)

1. A shooting unit equipped with an upper camera for photographing the upper part of fish and shellfish being transported via a transport means, and a side camera for photographing the side of the fish and shellfish being transported; An image processing unit that extracts images of fish and shellfish by analyzing images captured by the upper camera and the side camera; A computational unit that analyzes the image of the fish and shellfish extracted by the image processing unit above to estimate the volume of the fish and shellfish; and A control unit comprising a fish and shellfish sorting by preset size according to the fish and shellfish volume value estimated by the above-mentioned operation unit and outputting a sorting signal by grade, Seafood sorting device.
2. In paragraph 1, Further equipped with a sensor that detects fish and shellfish entering the above-mentioned shooting unit and outputs a shooting signal; The above upper camera and side camera are, Performing shooting according to the shooting signal input from the sensor, Seafood sorting device.
3. In paragraph 1, Around the above-mentioned transport means, A grasping robot installed that grasps fish and shellfish moving along a conveyor according to a grade-specific sorting signal input from a control unit and feeds them into a sorting pallet of the corresponding size Seafood sorting device.
4. A step of acquiring top and side images of fish and shellfish; A step of extracting object characteristics of fish and shellfish from the upper image using an image processing algorithm, and using this to calculate the maximum lateral width of the fish and shellfish from the side image; A step of dividing the fish and shellfish by height from the above side image and calculating the side width and area for each height; and A step of calculating unit volumes per height by assigning thickness to the calculated area per height, and then estimating the total volume by summing the calculated unit volumes per height; and A step including sorting seafood according to preset size grades based on estimated seafood volume data, Seafood sorting method.

Description

Apparatus and Method for Sorting Seafood The present invention relates to a fish and shellfish sorting device and method, and more specifically, to a fish and shellfish sorting device and method that automatically sorts fish and shellfish by size using a camera. Generally, the processing of seafood, such as fish, shellfish, and mollusks, relies entirely on manual labor for various stages of the manufacturing process, including pretreatment, sorting, processing, and packaging, because automation is difficult due to the flexible and irregular nature of the seafood. However, as the sustainability of the workforce and processed seafood products is gradually declining due to factors such as the decrease and aging of the fishing population, active technological development is currently underway to automate seafood processing using robots and IoT technologies to address these issues. Among these, due to the characteristics of shellfish, such as their strong flexibility and irregular shape, it is very difficult to automate the task of classifying them by size (volume). Therefore, since workers at the site distinguish the size of seafood transported along the conveyor solely by visual inspection, not only is work efficiency very poor, but there are also significant differences in the precision and speed of the sorting process depending on the workers' skill level, so improvements are required. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the usage state of a fish and shellfish sorting device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view of a fish and shellfish sorting device according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a fish and shellfish sorting device according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a method for sorting fish and shellfish according to the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a method for calculating the lateral width of a fish or shellfish from an upper image captured by an upper camera according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is a drawing showing the state of dividing fish and shellfish by height from a side image according to the present invention. FIG. 7 is a drawing showing the actual side width and area of fish and shellfish by height from a side image captured by a side camera according to the present invention. The features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments based on the accompanying drawings. Prior to this, terms and words used in this specification and claims must be interpreted in a meaning and concept consistent with the technical spirit of the invention, based on the principle that the inventor can appropriately define the concept of the terms to best describe his invention. Furthermore, the terms and words used in this specification and claims are used merely to describe specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the invention. For example, a singular expression includes a plural expression unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Furthermore, terms such as "include," "equip," or "have" are intended to specify the existence of the features, numbers, steps, actions, components, parts, or combinations thereof described in the specification, and should be understood as not precluding the existence or addition of one or more other features, numbers, steps, actions, components, parts, or combinations thereof. Furthermore, when a part such as a layer, membrane, region, or plate is said to be "above" another part, this includes not only the case where it is "directly above" the other part, but also the case where there is another part in between. Conversely, when a part such as a layer, membrane, region, or plate is said to be "below" another part, this includes not only the case where it is "directly below" the other part, but also the case where there is another part in between. In addition, terms including ordinal numbers, such as "first," "second," etc., used in this specification may be used to describe various components, but said components are not limited by said terms, and said terms are used solely for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another. Hereinafter, in describing an embodiment of the present invention in detail with reference to the drawings, the same reference numerals are used for identical components, and for clarity, only the different parts are described primarily to avoid duplication as much as possible. The seafood subject to sorting in this invention may include, for example, fish, shellfish, and mollusks, and is particularly advantageous for sorting oyster meat from which the shell has been removed among shellfish. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3, the fish and shellfish sorting device according to the present invention includes a shooting unit (100) that photographs fish and shellfish transported at a constant speed through a transport means (A), an