• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.621-628
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• 1998

In order to develop an inspection algorithm for an automatic eggshell inspection system, acoustic impulse response with neural network method was studied. An improved error backpropagation algorithm was selected as a loaming rule of neural network, and three layer network was chosen for the neural network architecture. Acoustic signals in time domain and theirs power spectrum were studied as the input to the neural network. The classification feasibility and success rate were investigated in terms of statistical analysis and neural network approach. As a result, the success rate was 95% with the statistical model having five independent variables. Among the neural network models studied, the power spectrum of acoustic signal as the input with 64 input neurons and the two impact data showed the success rate of 95.5% which was slightly higher than of statistical analysis.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.67-74
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• 1998

A nondestructive quality inspection technique using acoustic impulse response method was developed for eggshell inspection. An experimental system was built to generate the impact force, to measure the response signal and to analyze the frequency spectrum. This system includes an impulse generating unit, an egg holding seal a microphone with preamplifier, and a DSP board installed on Personal Computer. A simple algorithm .was developed for crack detection. Using the developed system with algorithm, crack detection ability was evaluated and the error rate to estimate the normal egg as cracked was found to be 4% and the error rate to estimate the cracked egg as normal was also found to be 4%. This system could be adopted in industry with some modification.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.253-258
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• 1999

This study was conducted to develop an automatic egg inspection system for detecting creaked eggs based on acoustic impulse response. This system includes a sound generator, a sound sensor with signal conditioner, and a computer. The sound generator that hit the sharp of the dull edges of an egg was constructed with a ceramic ball pendulum attached to a rotary type solenoid. The signal conditioner included a pre-amplifier and a digital signal processing (DSP) board. The parameters for distinguishing cracked and normal eggs were the area, the geometric centroid and the resonance frequency of power spectrum of the acoustic signal generated. An algorithm for on-line detection of the continuous transferring eggs was developed. The performance tests resulted with 91% success rate to separate cracked and normal eggs at the rate of 1 second per an egg.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.129-136
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• 2002

This study was conducted to Provide basic information Promoting egg qualify improvement and hygienic control by grasping of present market egg distribution system and hygienic quality. The eggs of 57 brands collected from the department food stores in Incheon Metropolitan City were examined. Eggs were kept in room temperature in all the market and 70.2% of the brands were marked the expiration date indicating that eggs would be available over 28 days after being laid. Fifty-four % of the market eggs was classified as a special or functional egg. Expiration date and date of laying were common labelling items in all brands. These items were labelled in trade mark sheet or eggs tray. Only 66.6% of the brands had the mark about net quantity of contents. The inspection about the exterior and contents of eggs has results as follows: eggshell contamination of feces and feather-9.5%, abnormal and broken eggshell -3.9%, blood and meat spots in contents -14.7% and watery whites -1.8%. Average of Haugh Unit(HU) was 56.1 and below HU 31 were 18 of 285 eggs(6.3%), in addition, more than one egg detected in 12 brands(21.1%) among 57 brands have inferior quality. Salmonella enteritidis from eggshell and antibodies directed from S. enteritidis in the yolks of eggs available in the market were not detected. Ranges of Total bacterial count (CFU/ml) on eggshell of eggs were < 10~8.2$\times$10$_3$, and isolation ratio of Escherichia coli were 4.7%. Tetracyclines were detected in 1.8% of the eggs(1 of57 brands) by CHARMII. As mentioned above, quality control and improving distribution system were required to facilitate egg consumption and improve public health by complementing labelling items and quality standards.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.348-354
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• 2008

Egg grading is determined by exterior and interior quality. Among the evaluation methods for the egg quality, a candling method is common to identify eggs with cracked shells and interior defects. But this method is time-consuming and laborious. In addition, practically, it is challenging to detect hairline and micro cracks. In this study, an on-line inspection system based on acoustic resonance frequency analysis was developed to detect hairline cracks on eggshells. A roller conveyor was used to transfer eggs along one lane to the impact position where each of eggs rotated by the roller was excited with an impact device at four different locations on the eggshell equator. The impact device was consisted of a plastic hammer and a rotary solenoid. The acoustic response of the egg to the impact was measured with a small condenser microphone at the same position as the impact device was installed. Two acoustic parameters, correlation coefficient for normalized power spectra and standard deviation of peak resonant frequencies, were used to detect cracked eggs. Intact eggs showed relatively high correlations among the four normalized power spectra and low standard deviations of the four peak resonant frequencies. On the other hand, cracked eggs showed low correlations and high standard deviations as compared to the intact. This method allowed a crack detection rate of 97.6%.