The foreign material identification accuracy of Tomra Food’s sorting and grading solutions has won an International FoodTec Award.
The recogniztion was granted for “using artificial intelligence and cloud technology to improve food safety, quality and traceability while increasing process efficiency,” according to a news release.
Presented tri-annually by the DLG (German Agricultural Society), the International FoodTec Awards honor “groundbreaking developments in innovation, sustainability, and efficiency in the food technology sector,” according to the release.
The panel of judges — from research, academia and the food industry — awards gold medals for products with a new concept and silver medals for “existing products which have been developed to such an extent that a substantial improvement in their function and their process is achieved.” Tomra received a silver medal for “Foreign Material Identification,” powered by artificial intelligence and Tomra Insight.
Applying AI and deep learning
Artificial intelligence is hugely helpful for the potato market because of the highly variable nature of factors such as weather and incoming raw materials, according to the release. When assisted by AI, sorting and grading machines can make more accurate decisions to accept or reject, recover more good product from compromised raw material and more precisely classify the products on the line into different grades, the release said.
Tomra’s solutions attain these advantages by adopting the AI method of deep learning; this uses pre-trained models to teach computers how to process data, such as complex patterns in photos, according to the relelease. In combination with different sensor technologies, these images of foreign material captured by Tomra sorters are analyzed by a deep-learning model. They help to constantly improve the solution by continuously retraining the model, according to the release.
“We are pleased that the jury of the International FoodTec Award has recognized Tomra’s industry-leading innovations in AI and cloud technology, and the importance of these solutions to customers,” Felix Flemming, head of digital for Tomra Food and Recycling, said in the release. “Digital solutions and AI are set to play an increasingly important role in meeting the needs and desires of food consumers and in helping to feed the world’s growing population. This will require more food production and less food waste.”
“AI redefines the sorting game by improving precision and setting a new standard for crop sorting technology,” Marco Colombo, global category director of potatoes for Tomra Food, said in the release. “New AI features are embedded in our sorting machines — as recently announced for our Tomra 3A unwashed potato sorter — enhancing image processing by evaluating pixels in a more sophisticated way. While the objects are assessed down the line, we are able to evaluate how pixels are shaped against each other and we can classify clusters or an object as a whole.”
