Technology

Opto-electronic sorters combine many technical disciplines to ensure optimum overall performance. Only with a good understanding of agriculture, plant biology and food production can engineers design an effective machine.

The need to combine mechanical product handling, precision cameras and optics, high-speed multi-processor electronics, sophisticated processing and operator software and the pneumatics necessary for accurate defect ejection, challenges the best engineers in the field. Radix has built, and are still building, on their experience won over more than 22 years in the industry and protected by a number of international patents.

Product Handling. Radix offer a range of vibratory conveyors, belt or polycord conveyors and a range of chutes and channelling boards, all to ensure effective product separation and good presentation to the inspection cameras.

Product inspection

Typically we use high-speed, high-resolution, line-scan cameras with wide spectral range and optics to suit an application. Single-sided, top and bottom cameras or four cameras for "all-round" vision are configured to meet the most stringent requirements.

Lighting

High-frequency fluorescent lighting for mono-chromatic inspection. Multi-spectral lighting using red, green. blue and infra-red Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) to detect e.g. brown discoloration in green product or foreign bodies such as insects.

Electronic processing

Radix has led the field in sorting with their patented parallel digital signal processing (DSP) configuration. The latest 'MC' technology uses DSPs and unique Radix architecture which will process, in four colours and with sub-millimetre resolution, more than 200,000 objects every minute.

Software

Simple, menu-driven operator software hides the sophistication of "object" processing configured into the range of Radix "algorithms". Shade and two-, three-, or four-colour processing is supplemented by algorithms able to check dimensions (width, length, height and area), shape, symmetry and many others.

Rejection

The Radix ejector valves are extremely reliable, with a life of well over 1 billion operations. The ejector nozzle design is dependent on the application and several types are available for optimum ejections. Up to 256 nozzles can be arrayed in a single rejection bank for minimum product wastage. Several rejection banks can be arranged in a series e.g. length grading (long, medium, short) of products.

Our Project Engineers use full 3D CAD systems to customise the standard machines or, if necessary, to configure a special machine particular to your application.

Our Sales and Applications Engineers will evaluate your product, carry out free tests in our factory and, if required, take a test machine to your factory for evaluation.