Sensor technology integration in an intelligent machine for herring roe grading

The development and integration of sensor technology for herring roe grading is described. In this application, by and large, grading is presently done by hand. Shape, firmness/texture, color and weight all play key roles in determining the grade of a roe skein. Furthermore, number of these variables are quite subjective both in the way they are determined by human graders, and in the way they affect the overall grade of a skein. Thus, in the present system an "intelligent" decision-making system, with multiple levels of abstraction, is used to determine the final grade of the product. The system uses a model base and also a knowledge base developed through interactive acquisition of knowledge from grading experts and off-line experiments. These are implemented as a set of fuzzy-logic rules and model matching procedures. A prototype grading machine has been developed and tested at an industrial plant. Typical experimental results are presented and studied.