Automatic green fruit counting in orange trees using digital images

Yield estimation is an important factor in a production process planning. In the case of citrus crops, can be useful in industrial management and as guidance for farmers, showing a decisive role in the product market strategies and cultivation practices. Several techniques are being studied for esti...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Maldonado, Walter [UNESP], Barbosa, José Carlos [UNESP]
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2016
País:Brasil
Institución:Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)
Repositorio:Repositório Institucional da UNESP
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.unesp.br:11449/173296
Acceso en línea:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2016.07.023
http://hdl.handle.net/11449/173296
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Citrus
Computer vision
Fruit detection
Precision agriculture
Yield estimation
Descripción
Sumario:Yield estimation is an important factor in a production process planning. In the case of citrus crops, can be useful in industrial management and as guidance for farmers, showing a decisive role in the product market strategies and cultivation practices. Several techniques are being studied for estimating citrus crop yield. On the basis of the known correlation between the number of visible fruits in a digital image and the total of fruits present in an orange tree, we developed a method for green fruit feature extraction with a combination of the techniques of color model conversion, thresholding, histogram equalization, spatial filtering with Laplace and Sobel operators and Gaussian blur. In addition, we built and tested an algorithm to recognize and count them, with detection rates of false-positives of 3% in images acquired in good conditions. It is possible to estimate the mean number of visible fruits in the trees within a tolerated error of 5% with up to 46 images and taking approximately 8 min without any human interaction.