Automatic Brix Measurement for Watermelon Breeding
Sweetness or sugar content, represented by soluble solids contents (SSC), is a vital quality trait in watermelon breeding which can be assessed by the refractive index method. However, sampling watermelon juice out of the pulp is a process that is both labor-intensive and error-prone. In this study,...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Applied Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/23/12227 |
| _version_ | 1797463601055793152 |
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| author | Jingjing Huang Ting Zou Heming Hu Xu Xiao Zhiwei Wang Ming Li Sihui Dai |
| author_facet | Jingjing Huang Ting Zou Heming Hu Xu Xiao Zhiwei Wang Ming Li Sihui Dai |
| author_sort | Jingjing Huang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Sweetness or sugar content, represented by soluble solids contents (SSC), is a vital quality trait in watermelon breeding which can be assessed by the refractive index method. However, sampling watermelon juice out of the pulp is a process that is both labor-intensive and error-prone. In this study, we developed an automatic SSC measurement system for watermelon breeding to improve efficiency and decrease costs. First, we built an automatic cutting system to cut watermelons into precise halves, in which a laser rangefinder is used to measure the distance from the upper surface of the watermelon to itself, and thus, the diameter is estimated. The experiments showed a high correlation between the estimated diameters and the ground truths, with and . Then, we built an automatic Brix measurement system to obtain the Brix data from a central point on the watermelon’s section, where an image analysis procedure is applied to locate the testing point. This is then transformed to the camera coordination system, and a refractometer is driven by a 3-axis robotic arm to reach the testing point. Brix measurement experiments were conducted using three vertical gaps and four lateral gaps between the probe of the refractometer and the pulp. The result showed that the best parameters were a vertical gap of 4 mm and a lateral gap of 2 mm. The average accuracy reached 98.74%, which indicates that this study has the potential to support watermelon breeding research. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T17:53:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4011f089743f4b5287d18cec0772f955 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T17:53:05Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-4011f089743f4b5287d18cec0772f9552023-11-24T10:33:03ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172022-11-0112231222710.3390/app122312227Automatic Brix Measurement for Watermelon BreedingJingjing Huang0Ting Zou1Heming Hu2Xu Xiao3Zhiwei Wang4Ming Li5Sihui Dai6Hunan Agricultural Equipment Research Institute, Changsha 410125, ChinaHunan Agricultural Equipment Research Institute, Changsha 410125, ChinaGraduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, JapanCollege of Electrical and Information Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, ChinaHunan Agricultural Equipment Research Institute, Changsha 410125, ChinaHunan Agricultural Equipment Research Institute, Changsha 410125, ChinaCollege of Horticulture, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, ChinaSweetness or sugar content, represented by soluble solids contents (SSC), is a vital quality trait in watermelon breeding which can be assessed by the refractive index method. However, sampling watermelon juice out of the pulp is a process that is both labor-intensive and error-prone. In this study, we developed an automatic SSC measurement system for watermelon breeding to improve efficiency and decrease costs. First, we built an automatic cutting system to cut watermelons into precise halves, in which a laser rangefinder is used to measure the distance from the upper surface of the watermelon to itself, and thus, the diameter is estimated. The experiments showed a high correlation between the estimated diameters and the ground truths, with and . Then, we built an automatic Brix measurement system to obtain the Brix data from a central point on the watermelon’s section, where an image analysis procedure is applied to locate the testing point. This is then transformed to the camera coordination system, and a refractometer is driven by a 3-axis robotic arm to reach the testing point. Brix measurement experiments were conducted using three vertical gaps and four lateral gaps between the probe of the refractometer and the pulp. The result showed that the best parameters were a vertical gap of 4 mm and a lateral gap of 2 mm. The average accuracy reached 98.74%, which indicates that this study has the potential to support watermelon breeding research.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/23/12227watermelonBrixrefractometercuttingimage analysislaser rangefinder |
| spellingShingle | Jingjing Huang Ting Zou Heming Hu Xu Xiao Zhiwei Wang Ming Li Sihui Dai Automatic Brix Measurement for Watermelon Breeding Applied Sciences watermelon Brix refractometer cutting image analysis laser rangefinder |
| title | Automatic Brix Measurement for Watermelon Breeding |
| title_full | Automatic Brix Measurement for Watermelon Breeding |
| title_fullStr | Automatic Brix Measurement for Watermelon Breeding |
| title_full_unstemmed | Automatic Brix Measurement for Watermelon Breeding |
| title_short | Automatic Brix Measurement for Watermelon Breeding |
| title_sort | automatic brix measurement for watermelon breeding |
| topic | watermelon Brix refractometer cutting image analysis laser rangefinder |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/23/12227 |
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