Optical potato sorting machine simultaneously grades products by size, shape and also quality

Newtec’s latest sorting machine for potatoes is a high-speed system that ‘sees’ products from all angles to ensure quality is maintained efficiently.

“With production lines designed for processing several hundred tonnes a day, you simply can’t afford too much downtime,” explains Newtec Engineering’s head of software Rasmus Andersen. “We invest a lot in producing machines that virtually never break down, and this is highly appreciated by our customers.

“Another common demand is the ability to handle a certain type of defect that causes trouble for the customer,” he continues. “In these cases, we always make it a specific part of the showcase during a demonstration, showing exactly how well the machine handles such products.”

For the challenges that potatoes present, Andersen says that Newtec’s patented system for vibrating rollers performs an excellent job in terms of making sure that all products are seen from all angles while maintaining the high speed. “Designing and deploying a durable system, which can sustain the rather harsh and dirty production line environment has been quite an accomplishment,” he says.

“The machine is constructed with maximum efficiency in mind, combining high production throughput with a relatively small footprint,” he continues. “The result is an efficient and space-saving machine that ensures a very thorough quality check and classification of every single crop before it is presented in the sales packaging.”

Compared to manual sorting, labour savings are an obvious benefit, however the new sorter is also highly consistent and does not vary over time, regardless of the personnel.

“When comparing to mechanical sorting, our advanced camera system performs intelligent product analysis, thus allowing for grading in both size, shape, and quality in a single-stage process,” says Andersen.

The main benefit over both manual and mechanical sorting is the ability to dynamically prepare special selections for different purposes such as trays or promotional campaigns.

The Celox-P-UHD is the only machine on the market that can simultaneously grade products by size, shape and quality, and then deliver the products in up to 16 different categories at a capacity of up to 30 tonnes per hour.

The optical sorting machine features a mechanical setup with chutes, rollers and a ‘spinaflex-system’, which is able to cope with a large span of product dimensions without the need for pre-grading. Also, the Celox-P-UHD captures production data, which is made available for post-sorting analysis. Customers can choose to either handle this data themselves or use Newtec’s WebServices platform, which offers an extensive range of customised reports for complete product and batch information, as well as remote servicing.

“Most of our algorithms for size, shape, and quality analysis rely on artificial intelligence (AI), and they are executed on the latest embedded hardware platforms,” Andersen adds.

“The main benefit of AI in our machines is accuracy and consistency,” he says.

Tel: 01406 426526
Website: www.newtec.com