Abstract
ABSTRACT The macaw palm crop has been studied because of its bioenergy potential due to the high oil yield, which is linked to fruit maturity stage. Digital images have been adopted as a contactless way to obtain information about fruit surface area and volume, acting as a sensor for quality control and the classification of fruits, based on physical aspects during the maturation stage. The aim of this study was to estimate the volume of macaw palm fruits from digital models obtained by the Moiré technique using only one camera, associated with digital image-processing tools to unwarp the images, allowing the comparison with conventional methods. The volumes obtained by the Moiré technique were compared with those obtained by water displacement method (WDM) and millet-seed displacement method (SDM). The results show that the volumes measured by the Moiré technique exhibited a mean error of 13.54% compared with the SDM, and 11.09% when compared to WDM, which indicates that the digital Moiré technique is a robust, low-cost tool to measure the volume of macaw palm fruits.
Highlights
Among many emergent species with great potential for biofuel production, the macaw palm (Acrocomia aculeata) is considered as a promising crop for raw material in biodiesel production
Optical metrology techniques have been proposed as alternatives for the direct-contact methods with samples analysed to obtain information on fruit surface area and volume (Riddle, 1979; Rashidi & Ghomali, 2008; Khojastehnazhand et al, 2009; Rashidi et al, 2009)
Since macaw palm biometry is directly associated with maturation degree and oil content of the fruits, this study aimed to estimate the volume of macaw palm fruit from digital images obtained using the Moiré technique, through a robust approach with the use of only one camera associated with digital correction techniques for the images, comparing the volumes estimated through the Moiré technique with volumes estimated through the conventional methods of water displacement and millet-seed displacement
Summary
Among many emergent species with great potential for biofuel production, the macaw palm (Acrocomia aculeata) is considered as a promising crop for raw material in biodiesel production. Optical metrology techniques have been proposed as alternatives for the direct-contact methods with samples analysed to obtain information on fruit surface area and volume (Riddle, 1979; Rashidi & Ghomali, 2008; Khojastehnazhand et al, 2009; Rashidi et al, 2009). Digital techniques for measuring boundary surface known as profilometry have been largely employed in agricultural, medical, civil engineering and robotic areas (Braga et al, 2009). Among various techniques for the construction of profilometry, the Moiré technique can be considered as a theoretical basis for many methods and digitalization equipment (Sciammarella, 1982; Braga et al, 2009)
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