<title>Machine vision system for quality control assessment of bareroot pine seedlings</title>

Abstract

A PC-based machine vision system was used at a forest nursery for two months to make quality control measurements of bareroot pine seedlings. In tests conducted during the lifting season, there was close agreement between machine vision and manual measurement distribution results for seedling samples for both root collar diameter and tap root length. During a second set of tests conducted after adding a bud tip height measurement routine, measurement distribution results for seedling samples were in close agreement for root collar diameter, tap root length, and bud tip height. Machine vision measurements of root collar diameter and tap root length also correlated well with manual measurements on a seedling-to- seedling basis for the second test. With the machine vision system, seedling samples could be measured by one person in approximately the same amount of time that it took two people to measure them manually.