WO-2026095131-A1 - FISH AND SHELLFISH SORTING SYSTEM

WO2026095131A1WO 2026095131 A1WO2026095131 A1WO 2026095131A1WO-2026095131-A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a fish and shellfish sorting system and, more specifically, to a fish and shellfish sorting system which uses cameras to automatically sort fish and shellfish by size. The fish and shellfish sorting system, according to the present invention, comprises: a photographing unit having an upper camera for capturing an image of the top portion of fish or shellfish being transferred by a transfer means, and a side camera for capturing an image of a side portion of the fish or shellfish being transferred; an image processing unit for analyzing the images captured by the upper and side cameras to extract an image of the fish or shellfish; a calculation unit for analyzing the image of the fish or shellfish extracted by the image processing unit to estimate the volume of the fish or shellfish; and a control unit for sorting the fish or shellfish into a predefined size grade on the basis of the volume of the fish or shellfish estimated by the calculation unit and for generating a sorting signal for each size grade.

Inventors

SUH, Jinho
KIM, Sungjae
KANG, MINJIN
JO, Seokho

Assignees

국립부경대학교 산학협력단

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20241031

Claims (13)

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 sorting unit that sorts seafood by preset sizes according to the seafood volume value estimated by the above-mentioned calculation unit and outputs a sorting signal by grade Seafood sorting system.
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 system.
In paragraph 1, The above-mentioned imaging unit is, Acquire top and side images of fish and shellfish using a top camera and a side camera; The above image processing unit is, The object characteristics of fish and shellfish are extracted from the upper image using an image processing algorithm; The above operation unit is, Calculate the maximum lateral width of the fish and shellfish from the side image using object features extracted through the image processing unit, divide the fish and shellfish by height, calculate the lateral width and area for each height, calculate the unit volume for each height by assigning thickness to the calculated area for each height, and then estimate the total volume by summing the calculated unit volumes for each height; The above control unit is, Sorts seafood according to preset size grades based on seafood volume data estimated through the computation unit, Seafood sorting system.
In paragraph 1, Around the above-mentioned transport means, A gripping device installed that grips fish and shellfish moving along a conveying means 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 system.
In paragraph 4, The above-mentioned gripping device is, Grafting robot; A body part installed on the above-mentioned gripping robot; A pair of grippers installed at the lower part of the above body so as to be able to reciprocate over a certain distance and approach each other to grasp fish and shellfish; A driving unit that imparts reciprocating movement force to the above-mentioned gripper; and A flexible anti-escaping barrier mounted on the gripper to prevent the grasped fish and shellfish from escaping from the gripper. Seafood sorting system.
In paragraph 5, The above gripper is, A slider that moves back and forth along the body part by receiving left and right movement force from the above-mentioned driving unit; A frame portion coupled to the lower part of the above slider and to which the above anti-detachment is coupled; and A structure having an elastic coupling part that allows the above-mentioned frame part to be movably connected to a slider up and down, Seafood sorting system.
In paragraph 6, On the bottom surface of the above-mentioned frame part, A scooping portion formed to slope downward toward the gripping direction, Seafood sorting system.
In Paragraph 7, On the bottom surface of the above-mentioned frame part, A surface with irregularities formed to prevent shellfish passing through the scooping section from flowing down to the scooping end, Seafood sorting system.
In paragraph 5, The above anti-detachment film is, formed of a silicon mesh, Seafood sorting system.
In paragraph 6, The above gripper is, Further comprising a coupling member that detachably fixes the anti-detachment to the frame; The above-mentioned connecting member is, A slit hole for mounting a detachment prevention film formed in a frame portion, a plurality of assembly holes for detachment prevention films (640) formed in the slit hole for mounting the detachment prevention film, and a plurality of fixing bolts that penetrate the detachment prevention film mounted in the slit hole for mounting the detachment prevention film and are fastened to the assembly holes for detachment prevention films. Seafood sorting system.
In Paragraph 10, The above gripper is, A cover member further provided with a frame portion fitted thereto to prevent external exposure of the connecting member, Seafood sorting system.
In paragraph 6, The above elastic coupling part is, A fixed bracket attached to the bottom of the slider; A vertical insertion projection formed vertically at the top of the above frame portion and penetrating the above fixing bracket; A support member coupled to the upper end of a vertical fitting projection penetrating the support member, which supports the vertical fitting projection so as not to detach from the fixing bracket; and A structure having an elastic member that is fitted into the above-mentioned vertical fitting projection and imparts elastic force in the vertical direction to the frame portion. Seafood sorting system.
In paragraph 5, The above anti-detachment film is, It is equipped with a pressure sensor that detects pressure transmitted from the captured fish and shellfish in real time; The above driving member is, Operation stops when the pressure value input from the pressure sensor exceeds the set value. Seafood sorting system.

Description

Seafood sorting system The present invention relates to a seafood sorting system, and more specifically, to a seafood sorting system that automatically sorts seafood by size and safely transports it to a subsequent process without damage. 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. Nevertheless, the process of sorting seafood by size (volume) has not been automated, and workers in the field still distinguish the sizes of seafood transported along the conveyor belt solely by visual inspection. This results in very poor work efficiency, and significant variations in the precision and speed of the sorting process occur depending on the workers' skill levels, thus requiring improvement. In addition, although shellfish classified by size must be transported to sorting pallets using a gripping device, existing gripping devices have limitations in that they cannot stably grip shellfish without damage, as gripping is performed by lifting both sides of the shellfish, causing them to easily break or slip and fall out. The problem information of the present invention is as follows. Project ID: 2520000008 Ministry Name: Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries Project Name: Development of Smart Technology for Fresh Seafood Distribution Principal Investigator: Seo Jin-ho Project Executing Organization Name: Pukyong National University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation Name of Specialized Agency: Korea Institute of Marine Science & Technology Promotion Project Period: 2024.01.01.~2024.12.31. Project Title: Development of Smart Processing Technology for Seafood FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the usage state of a fish and shellfish sorting system according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view of a fish and shellfish sorting system according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a fish and shellfish sorting system according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a gripping device constituting the present invention. FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a gripping device constituting the present invention. FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of a gripper constituting the present invention. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view along line VII-VII of FIG. 4, showing the operating state of the gripper. Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view along the line VIII-VIII of Figure 4. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a method for calculating the actual lateral width of a fish or shellfish from an upper image captured by an upper camera according to the present invention. FIG. 10 is a drawing showing the state of seafood divided by height from a side image according to the present invention. FIG. 11 is a drawing showing the side width and area of 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