Formula Foods

Overview

This is a brief overview of how SeedCount works. More detailed information is given in the manual which can be downloaded here.

SeedCount uses a modified flatbed desktop scanner and a Microsoft Windows - based personal computer to create a digital image of a sample of grain; it then analyses the image.

The scanner operates facing down inside the instrument cabinet.

A sample of seeds to be tested is obtained with the sampling spear. The spear collects a sample "core" from all levels in a bucket or small bag of grain.

The spear contents are transferred to a volumetric cup. Up to 700 barley seeds can be analyzed at once.

The sample is placed on a special indented tray, and shaken to distribute the seeds into the shaped indents. The indents have varying shapes such that some seeds fall into wide, shallow indents and lie on their back. Other seeds fall into narrower indents and are held on their edge. The tray is placed in the scanner cabinet.

SeedCount then scans the sample at 300 dpi in 64 million colours. The image can be saved to the computer’s hard drive as a high-quality JPEG image file for future reference.

The user must enter the clean weight of the sample and can also enter the initial as-is weight, moisture percentage, protein percentage and the volume of the sample. The user’s identification and the site identification can also be entered.

Analyzing the Image

After the tray is scanned and the image created, the user presses the Analyze button. The program then creates a separate image for every object and analyzes each of them. It finds the left-right and top-bottom bounds of the object, its area, its major and minor axes, its X-Y location, and makes several measurements of shape.

From all of the above measurements the program determines if the object is a whole kernel, a broken piece of a kernel or a non-seed object or dockage item. If several seeds form a clump, the program determines how many seeds are in the clump.

A feature of the tray (patent pending) is the use of narrow indents in a portion of the tray. These indents are shaped such that seeds are held on edge thus permitting measurement of thickness. Taking into account the length and width measurements in the wide indents and the length and thickness measurements in the narrow indents, the program combines them into a three dimensional statistical analysis of the seeds. The result is a table of screening equivalents that correspond to measurements made in traditional sieves.

A measure of quality is plumpness, the ratio of width to length. A similar measure, only possible using three-dimensional values, is roundness. Both of these are calculated for each whole seed.

From the number of whole seeds and the weight of the sample, the program calculates the TKW, thousand-kernel weight, a traditional quality measure. If the user has entered the percent moisture (measured with a separate instrument) the program calculates the TKW dry.