Machine Inspection Helps Measure Rice Quality

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - A machine inspection system under development at the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture can peer through intact hulls to inspect individual rice kernels for damage.

"This is primarily of value for rice breeders and physiologists," said Dr. Carl Griffis, professor of biological and agricultural engineering. "They look for traits like resistance to insects and diseases. Current evaluation techniques require removing the hulls for visual inspection of the grain. Those kernels, then, are more difficult to plant to produce the next generation of a breeding line."

Building on the machine vision groundwork of former UA engineer Dr. Yang Tao, Griffis and graduate student Amber Gosnell are developing a system that can inspect individual rough rice kernels and separate damaged from undamaged.

"Yang Tao had an idea to make video images of rice kernels back-lighted with a strong light source," Griffis said. "He demonstrated that damage from disease or insects causes blackened areas on the grains that show up as darkened areas in the images."

A computer program processes those images and predicts damage. Griffis said visual examination of machine-inspected rice shows a high correlation of accuracy.

Griffis and Gosnell are completing the first year of a three-year study on the machine inspection system. At the end of three years, Griffis plans to deliver a fully automated system to Division of Agriculture scientists at the Rice Research and Extension Center at Stuttgart.