The fresh-baked buns are scanned by a digital camera as they move along the production line. Items not measuring up in terms of colour, shape, seed distribution, size or other criteria are identified by the computerised eye's imaging software and eventually removed automatically from the conveyor.
Researchers believe that the technology could be particularly useful for manufacturers that require a uniform product. For example, the team can envisage large-scale production of sandwich buns for fast-food restaurants using the new equipment.
The computerised imaging system in development will automate the inspection process at Flowers. In addition, the system will automatically record data, such as product count and the number of out-of-spec buns, to generate production reports. Doug Britton, a GTRI research engineer and co-principal investigator for the project, believes that the new approach should save money and time by increasing yield and reducing waste.
"Flowers will have all this data immediately for doing statistical process control so they can implement changes that reduce the number of poor-quality buns," said Britton. "They'll get a better handle on what they are producing."
The second phase of the project will extend automation by providing in-line mechanisms to correct the vagaries leading to poor-quality products. Proofers and ovens, the heat and humidity-controlled chambers where dough is sent to rise and bake, are subject to normal disturbances that can affect product quality. Automatically compensating for those disturbances reduces time spent correcting problems.
School of electrical and computer engineering researchers, working with the GTRI team, are using data from the screening and image-processing phase and from additional sensor inputs to build a supervisory control system. It will be able to make changes in the proofer and oven settings to fix problems as they are detected.
"Baking is both a science and an art," said professor Bonnie Heck from Georgia Tech's school of electrical and computer engineering (ECE). "Good bakers know both and are able to react based on experience and feedback from the process. We're trying to enhance the ability of expert and novice bakers alike to make better quality-control adjustments, while also adding automation that can mimic some of those adjustments dynamically."
The computerised quality-control and self-correcting production system certainly holds great commercial promise for the baking industry. There are also hopes that generic aspects of the technology may be adapted to other food processing industries as well. In the meantime, the system is still under development by GTRI researchers and engineers. BakeTech, a US-based baking equipment manufacturer, has also contributed to the project.
Research into digital scanning in baking was made possible, in part, by funding from Georgia's Traditional Industries Program for Food Processing, a 10-year-old research and development programme designed to improve the market competitiveness of Georgia's food processing industry, the state's second-largest employer.