FIELD

Disclosed herein is a method and system for the blending of agricultural products, such as tobacco, using hyperspectral imaging and analysis. Embodiments disclosed herein can be practiced with other agricultural products, including but not limited to, tea, grapes, coffee, vegetables, fruit, nuts, breads, cereals, meat, fish and other plant or animal parts.

Environment

Certain agricultural products, such as cultivated tobacco plants tea, spinach, etc., are harvested for their leaves, which may then be dried and cured as in the case of tobacco or tea. In the manufacture of cigarettes and other tobacco products, blends of different types of tobaccos are frequently employed, with three main types of tobacco used in U.S. blends. These tobacco types are Virginia or flue-cured, Burley and Oriental. Similar blending of different varieties and qualities of tea leaves is also done. In the following, the method and the system are illustrated for application in the tobacco industry, though the same method and system could be used for other agricultural products using leaves like tea and spinach, or in other packaged agricultural products using fruits, grapes, tomatoes, and other vegetables.

Regarding tobacco leaves, Virginia, or flue-cured tobacco, is also called “bright tobacco” since it turns a bright yellow-orange color during curing. It grows particularly well in Georgia, Virginia and the Carolinas. Flue-curing is a heat driven process that reduces the risk of mold and promotes chemical changes that improve the sensory quality of the tobacco.

Burley tobacco is a slightly lighter green leaf than Virginia tobacco. It requires heavier soils and is grown in Maryland, Kentucky and elsewhere. After harvesting, Burley tobaccos are air cured to reduce the risk of mold and improve sensory quality. In contrast to flue-curing, for Burley tobacco, air-curing takes place under ambient conditions.

Oriental tobacco is the smallest and hardiest of all tobacco types, grown principally in the Balkans, Turkey and the Middle East. These conditions and a high planting density create an aromatic flavor. Oriental tobacco is typically sun-cured.

Typically, tobacco materials are used in blended form. For example, certain popular tobacco blends, commonly referred to as “American” blends, comprise mixtures of flue-cured tobacco, burley tobacco and Oriental tobacco. Such blends, in many cases, contain tobacco materials that have processed forms, such as processed tobacco stems (e.g., cut-rolled stems, cut-rolled-expanded stems or cut-puffed stems), volume expanded tobacco (e.g., puffed tobacco, such as dry ice expanded tobacco (DIET), preferably in cut filler form). Tobacco materials also can have the form of reconstituted tobaccos (e.g., reconstituted tobaccos manufactured using paper-making type or cast sheet type processes). Tobacco reconstitution processes traditionally convert portions of tobacco that normally might be wasted into commercially useful forms. For example, tobacco stems, recyclable pieces of tobacco and tobacco dust can be used to manufacture processed reconstituted tobaccos of fairly uniform consistency. See, for example, Tobacco Encyclopedia, Voges (Ed.) p. 44-45 (1984), Browne, The Design of Cigarettes, 3.sup.rd Ed., p. 43 (1990) and Tobacco Production, Chemistry and Technology, Davis et al. (Eds.) p. 346 (1999). Various representative tobacco types, processed types of tobaccos, types of tobacco blends, cigarette components and ingredients, and tobacco rod configurations, also are set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,224 to Lawson et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,883 to Perfetti et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,888 to Perfetti et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,537 to Brown et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,159,942 to Brinkley et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,930 to Gentry; U.S. Pat. No. 5,360,023 to Blakley et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,730,832 to Dominguez et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,701,936 to Shafer et al.; U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2003/0075193 to Li et al.; 2003/0131859 to Li et al.; 2004/0084056 to Lawson et al.; 2004/0255965 to Perfetti et al.; 2005/0066984 to Crooks et al.; and 2005/0066986 to Nestor et al.; PCT WO 02/37990 to Bereman; and Bombick et al., Fund. Appl. Toxicol., 39, p. 11-17 (1997); which are incorporated herein by reference.

Dark air-cured tobacco is a type of tobacco used mainly for chewing tobacco, snuff, cigars, and pipe blends. Most of the world production of such tobacco is confined to the tropics; however, sources of dark air-cured tobacco are also found in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. Dark air-cured tobacco plants are characterized by leaves with a relatively heavy body and such tobacco plants are typically highly fertilized and topped low to around 10-12 leaves. See Tobacco Production, Chemistry and Technology, Davis et al. (Eds.) pp. 440-451 (1999).

These tobacco types may be further broken down into subgroups which may depend upon where the tobacco is grown, which part of the plant it is taken from, weather conditions and other characteristics that relate to the quality of the tobacco, including aroma, color, maturity, and uniformity. It should be understood that similar situation prevails in other leafy vegetables, fruits and other agricultural produce as well.

One tobacco plant can produce leaves of varying properties. The sensory, physical, chemical and visual properties of a tobacco leaf are, to a large extent, but not wholly determined by the leaf position on the plant. For example, the leaves at the top of the plant have more exposure to the sun than the ones at the bottom and typically contain higher levels of compounds that are sensorially important. In addition, the chemical content of the leaf can vary widely depending on the type of tobacco, soil, environmental, prevailing weather conditions, where it was grown, the way it is cured and how it is matured.

As in the case of any agricultural product, tobacco may be characterized by a wide variety of physical, chemical, and/or biological properties, characteristics, features, and behavior, which are associated with various aspects relating to agriculture, agronomy, horticulture, botany, environment, geography, climate, and ecology of the tobacco crop and plants thereof from which tobacco leaves are derived. Moreover, these properties of tobacco leaves may be spatially (i.e., geographically) and temporally (i.e., seasonally) variable or dependent. Such definition and characterization of tobacco leaves are directly translatable and extendable to defining and characterizing tobacco samples.

The forms disclosed herein are generally focused on the domains encompassing blending of tobacco bales, and are specifically focused on the domains encompassing automatic blending of tobacco that can be performed via hyperspectral imaging and analysis. However, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the technique could be used for applications involving other agricultural products, including, but not limited to, tea, spinach, fruits, vegetables, etc.

In the general technique of hyperspectral imaging, one or more objects in a scene or sample are affected in a way, such as excitation by incident electromagnetic radiation supplied by an external source of electromagnetic radiation upon the objects, which causes each object to reflect, scatter and/or emit electromagnetic radiation featuring a spectrum.

Hyperspectral imaging and analysis is a combined spectroscopy and imaging type of analytical method involving the sciences and technologies of spectroscopy and imaging. By definition, hyperspectral imaging and analysis is based on a combination of spectroscopy and imaging theories, which are exploitable for analyzing samples of physical, chemical, and/or biological matter in a highly unique, specialized, and sophisticated, manner.

Hyperspectral images generated by and collected from a sample of matter may be processed and analyzed by using automatic pattern recognition and/or classification type data and information processing and analysis, for identifying, characterizing, and/or classifying, the physical, chemical, and/or biological properties of the hyperspectrally imaged objects in the sample of matter.

There remains a need for a method and system for automatic quality evaluation and blending agricultural products, such as tobacco, via hyperspectral imaging and analysis.

SUMMARY

Disclosed herein is a method and system for quality evaluation and blending of agricultural products, including tobacco, via hyperspectral imaging and analysis. The method and system disclosed herein provide high sensitivity, high resolution, and high speed during operation, in a simple yet highly efficient, cost effective and commercially applicable manner.

In one aspect, disclosed herein is a method for blending of agricultural product utilizing hyperspectral imaging. At least one region along a sample of agricultural product is scanned using at least one light source of appropriate spectral wavelengths. Hyperspectral images are generated from the at least one region. A spectral fingerprint for the sample of agricultural product is formed from the hyperspectral images. A plurality of samples of agricultural product is blended based on the spectral fingerprints of the samples according to parameters determined by a computer, based upon an intelligent algorithm devised for the application.

In another aspect, provided is a method for determining blending parameters for an agricultural product utilizing hyperspectral imaging. Multiple regions along a sample of a desirable agricultural product are scanned using at least one light source of appropriate spectral wavelengths. Hyperspectral images are generated from the multiple regions. A spectral fingerprint is formed for the sample from the hyperspectral images. One or more features of the spectral fingerprint are correlated to desirable sensory attributes of the sample.

Certain forms disclosed herein are focused on the domain encompassing the testing of agricultural products, including tobacco bales, lots or samples, based on measuring, analyzing, and determining micro scale properties, characteristics, features, and parameters, generally with respect to individual bales, lots or samples, and specifically with respect to individual leaves contained within the bales, lots or samples. A wide variety of physical, chemical, and/or biological properties may be determined. Blending of agricultural products, including tobacco, is provided. Certain forms disclosed herein may be performed in an automatic on-line manner, via hyperspectral imaging and analysis.

Certain forms disclosed herein include definition and use of hyperspectrally detectable and classifiable codes. In turn, the classified agricultural product such as tobacco contained within that particular tobacco bale, lot or sample is usable as part of a procedure for blending that particular tobacco bale, lot or sample.

Certain forms disclosed herein provide for tracking and accounting for the spatial (i.e., geographical) and temporal (i.e., seasonal) variability of physical, chemical, and/or biological properties and behavior of agricultural product such as tobacco leaves. Such spatial and temporal variability or dependency of agricultural product such as tobacco leaves can be uniquely tracked and accounted for by use of the hyperspectrally detectable and classifiable codes and can therefore be incorporated into a procedure for blending tobacco.

Certain forms disclosed herein are implemented according to a temporal gated type of hyperspectral imaging and analysis. Accordingly, in some forms thereof, a method and system for the blending of agricultural product such as tobacco via temporal gated hyperspectral imaging and analysis is provided.

Certain forms disclosed herein are implemented by performing steps or procedures, and sub-steps or sub-procedures, in a manner selected from the group consisting of manually, semi-automatically, fully automatically, and combinations thereof, involving use and operation of system units, system sub-units, devices, assemblies, sub-assemblies, mechanisms, structures, components, and elements, and, peripheral equipment, utilities, accessories, and materials. Moreover, according to actual steps or procedures, sub-steps or sub-procedures, system units, system sub-units, devices, assemblies, sub-assemblies, mechanisms, structures, components, and elements, and, peripheral equipment, utilities, accessories, and materials, used for implementing a particular form, the steps or procedures, and sub-steps or sub-procedures are performed by using hardware, software, and/or an integrated combination thereof, and the system units, sub-units, devices, assemblies, sub-assemblies, mechanisms, structures, components, and elements, and peripheral equipment, utilities, accessories, and materials, operate by using hardware, software, and/or an integrated combination thereof.

For example, software used, via an operating system, for implementing certain forms disclosed herein can include operatively interfaced, integrated, connected, and/or functioning written and/or printed data, in the form of software programs, software routines, software subroutines, software symbolic languages, software code, software instructions or protocols, software algorithms, or a combination thereof. For example, hardware used for implementing certain forms disclosed herein can include operatively interfaced, integrated, connected, and/or functioning electrical, electronic and/or electromechanical system units, sub-units, devices, assemblies, sub-assemblies, mechanisms, structures, components, and elements, and, peripheral equipment, utilities, accessories, and materials, which may include one or more computer chips, integrated circuits, electronic circuits, electronic sub-circuits, hard-wired electrical circuits, or a combination thereof, involving digital and/or analog operations. Certain forms disclosed herein can be implemented by using an integrated combination of the just described exemplary software and hardware.

In certain forms disclosed herein, steps or procedures, and sub-steps or sub-procedures can be performed by a data processor, such as a computing platform, for executing a plurality of instructions. Optionally, the data processor includes volatile memory for storing instructions and/or data, and/or includes non-volatile storage, for example, a magnetic hard-disk and/or removable media, for storing instructions and/or data. Optionally, certain forms disclosed herein include a network connection. Optionally, certain forms disclosed herein include a display device and a user input device, such as a touch screen device, keyboard and/or mouse.

