We’re proud to partner with so many exceptional agricultural businesses, enhancing the overall productivity and excellence of the fresh produce industry globally.
A new generation of vision grading is here and it’s completely changing the sorting and packing game. It is redefining what’s possible for packhouses across the globe. The latest release of gpVision™ harnesses the incredible power of machine learning and artificial intelligence to analyse, sort and grade fruit with unprecedented accuracy and speed that ensures the cost of delivering produce to customers is declining and the quality of product improving.
We call this revolutionary technology: radiai™
5 years in the making, GP Graders has indexed and annotated thousands of images of cherry defects to create an expansive dataset for the radiai™ technology to ‘learn’ how defects are detected and treated. Advanced artificial intelligence models can now learn these features automatically through convolutional neural networks (CNNs) without explicit programming, associating visual patterns in the data with specific defect categories. Unusual discolouration can indicate bruises, uneven surfaces can signify a crack and irregular shapes will indicate growth abnormalities such as spurs, just to name a few examples.
Now fully trained, gpVision™ with the radiai™ technology processes the images of cherries to identify and categorise the defects. Each of the 36 images captured for each cherry is analysed based on the features the model learned during its training, enabling the gpVision™ grading system to quickly and accurately determine where the fruit should be sent (waste/export/first class/second class), according to the specific requirements set by the packhouse operator.
The outcomes are clear and simple; a more consistent product in the carton and minimal sorting cost to achieve outstanding results.
The gpVison™ grading system has been delivering superior sorting solutions for some years now. It’s been in use on snack tomatoes for 4 years. Now, with the radiai™ technology available for cherries, we are rolling it out in packhouses across the globe as a standard feature with gpVison™. The next level of grading technology has been achieved and the results are speaking for themselves.
Grader operators working with the platform are reporting near-perfect stem detection regardless of the number of stems on a single image. This makes the sizing more accurate as the software doesn’t confuse stems from neighbouring cherries and scans the correct cherry to measure the diameter accurately. The additional benefit of the system being able to isolate stems on individual cherries is a higher cup fill. With no reduction of sizing accuracy as the volume of fruit being scanned grows means improved throughput and productivity.
Previously, the wooden or brown part of a stem may have been recognised as a crack. The radiai™ technology has tempered this problem resulting is significantly less false positives. In instances where grading software incorrectly categorises a good fruit as damaged or defected, it’s literally money going to the waste bin.
Cherry cracks have always represented some level of concern but their location on the fruit can influence what class the cherry lands in. With radiai™, it’s now possible to distinguish the exact location, meaning a cherry with a small bottom crack might pass through to the seconds class and a cherry with a side crack, sent through to waste. radiai™ also detects stem quality including dehydration and browning.
And finally, ‘fresh splits’ are now able to be identified. This notoriously difficult defect has plagued packhouses with the freshness of the wounds failing to create enough of a contrast to show up in images. Now, the new radiai™ technology, with such a large and evolving dataset, has practically alleviated the issue, meaning growers have much greater confidence the cherries in their cartons and punnets are free of any and all bad fruit.
With the power of the radiai™ technology now at the centre of gpVision™, the operator experience has gone from detailed number crunching to intuitive sliders and easily understood configuration. Already far more user-friendly than other systems on the market, it is now simpler than ever to use, and achieving outstanding results is simply a case of review the data, push and pull a few sliders and let the system do the rest!
By leveraging the remarkable technology of machine learning and artificial intelligence, we can ensure your packed cherries meet the highest standards while optimising efficiency and reducing waste. With multiple sites across Chile having run extremely successful trials this cherry season, the future of fresh produce grading looks very promising indeed.
Whether you’re looking to enhance the quality of your pack out or explore innovative ways to optimise your operations, we’d love to help. Get in touch with us today to discuss how gpVision™ with radiai™ can transform your business!