{"82681":{"#nid":"82681","#data":{"type":"news","title":"The Perfect Buns: Digital Imaging System Catches Bad Sandwich Buns","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe first phase of the work is introducing continuous imaging technology to the large-scale production of sandwich buns for fast-food restaurants, which hold to exacting product specifications. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe fresh-baked buns are scanned by a digital camera as they move along Flowers\u0027 production line. Items not measuring up in terms of color, shape, seed distribution, size or other criteria are identified by the computerized eye\u0027s imaging software and eventually removed automatically from the conveyor. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe system concept is under development by engineers from the Georgia Tech Research Institute\u0027s (GTRI) Food Processing Technology Division in association with researchers from Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and BakeTech, a baking equipment manufacturer in Tucker, Ga. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe project was made possible, in part, by funding from Georgia\u0027s Traditional Industries Program for Food Processing, a 10-year-old research and development program designed to improve the market competitiveness of Georgia\u0027s food processing industry --  the state\u0027s second-largest employer.  The Food Processing Advisory Council (FoodPAC) oversees such state-funded research grants.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe computerized imaging system in development will automate the inspection process at Flowers. Ultimately, the new approach will save money and time by increasing yield and reducing waste, says Doug Britton, a GTRI research engineer and co-principal investigator for the project.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022It should reduce the time between noticing a problem and fixing it,\u0022 Britton explains. Also, the system will automatically record data, such as product count and the number of out-of-spec buns, to generate production reports. \u0022Flowers will have all this data immediately for doing statistical process control so they can implement changes that reduce the number of poor-quality buns,\u0022 he adds. \u0022They\u0027ll get a better handle on what they are producing.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"The perfect bun: That\u0027s one of the goals of an automated product-inspection prototype under development by Georgia Tech researchers working with Flowers Bakery in Villa Rica, Ga.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2003-11-24 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:41","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2003-11-24T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2003-11-24T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/gtresearchnews.gatech.edu\/newsrelease\/bakery.htm","title":"Future Plans"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003E \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=\u0022\u003EContact  \u003C\/a\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}