In egg production facilities, the classification of eggs is carried out either manually or by using sophisticated systems such as load cells. However, there is a need for the classification of eggs to be carried out with faster and cheaper methods. In the agri-food industry, the use of image processing technology is continuously increasing due to the data processing speed and cost-effective solutions. In this study, an image processing approach was used to classify chicken eggs on an industrial roller conveyor line in real-time. A color camera was used to acquire images in an illumination cabinet on a motorized roller conveyor while eggs are moving on the movement halls. The system successfully operated for the grading of eggs in the industrial multi-flow production line in real-time. There were significant correlations among measured weights of the eggs after image processing. The coefficient of linear correlation (R2) between measured and actual weights was 0.95.
Keywords: computer vision; egg weight estimation; image processing; industrial egg grading; multi-flow production line.