Automated lumber processing system: grading the hardwood lumber?

For the past few decades, researchers have devoted time and effort to apply automation and modern computer technologies towards improving the productivity of traditional industries. To be competitive, one must streamline operations and minimize production costs, while maintaining an acceptable margin of profit. This paper describes the effort of one such endeavor directed towards improving the hardwood lumber industry in the U.S.A.?specifically to automatically grade and analyze hardwood lumber. Automated lumber grading will be plausible for hardwoods when lumber scanning systems can reliably identify all defects by type. The potential worth of a scanning grading system depends on the accuracy and reliability of the computer-assigned grades compared to the performance of human graders. This paper presents the preliminary results of the scanning-grading system compared to manual lumber grading using NHLA rules. The system uses a nondestructive vision system to scan a hardwood lumber board for its dimension and the location and type of surface defects. This information is then used to determine a lumber grade. The scanning-grader results indicated that seven out of fifteen manually graded boards were graded too high. Initial results also showed that the scanner is missing parts of defects and also misclassifying some clear wood as defective.

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