|
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
Volume 6, Issue 5 :: March-April 2002 |
|||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||
| Technical Committees
to Select FY 2003 Research Agenda FoodPAC’s FY 2003 Call for Program Proposals received 26 submissions. The submitted proposals were divided among FoodPAC’s three research focus areas as follows: 12 Process and Product Competitiveness, 7 Environmental, and 7 Food Safety. These proposals request funding totaling $3,062,651. Approximately $1.2 million in general funds and $500,000 in bond funds are expected to be available for distribution. Therefore, the FoodPAC Technical Committees representing the three focus areas will have to help select a portion of the proposals for funding. The proposal selection process begins March 22-28 when the Technical Committees meet separately to rate and prioritize the proposals. During the selection process, each Technical Committee will compare the proposals for their responsiveness to the Proposal Call. Committee members will also hear oral presentations from each research proposal leader. These oral presentations are designed to explain the thrust of the proposed research as well as update the committee on previous work done in the proposed area. The Technical Committees then give each proposal a numerical rating using a 20-point criteria scheme (10 points for Technical Merit, 5 points for Collaboration, and 5 points for Funding). After each proposal is rated, the committees rank order the submissions (by overall score) and put together a final recommendation on their selections for the Steering Committee. The Steering Committee will meet on April 25 to review, adjust, and approve the FY 2003 Research Agenda. All proposal submitters will be notified of the final selections by May 3. |
|
Legislative
Funding Update FoodPAC Executive Coordinator Gary Black
As of this writing, $500,000 in bond funding for research equipment purchases was included in the FY 2002 Supplemental Budget. Legislators within the Budget Subcommittees have been wrestling over several bond issues, but FoodPAC funding should not be affected. General research funding for FoodPAC and other Traditional Industry Programs (apparel, carpet, and textile; pulp and paper) has now been established in a “continuation” posture FY 2003 Budget, with FoodPAC’s proposed share totaling $1.2 million. Although not approved as of this writing, it appears that the FoodPAC funding levels (both bond and general) should not face any significant obstacles to final legislative passage. As always, I wish to express my appreciation to all of you for your continued support of FoodPAC research projects and your efforts in helping to advance the competitiveness of the food processing industry in Georgia. |
|||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
P R O J E C T . . S P O T L I G H T Vision-based Inspection and Control in Baking Systems
Georgia Tech research engineers in partnership with BakeTech, a Tucker, Georgia-based, baking equipment manufacturer, and Flowers Baking Company are working on a system to continuously monitor and control product quality on a commercial bread/bun line. Machine vision-based approaches are being explored to extract information about bread quality. While this will be used for the rejection/removal of out-of-specification product, the ultimate goal is to investigate intelligent control strategies for correcting earlier processes that contribute to defective product. Of particular interest is the potential to provide some control and optimization feedback to the baking/oven and proofing stages. Background and Challenges The bakery industry is the second largest segment of the food processing industry in the United States. One of its growing market segments is the production of buns and rolls for food-service and fast-food customers. Many of these customers are increasing the demands on bakery quality control operations that screen for bun size, shape, color, and garnish coverage. Currently, the standard inspection process for baked products is for workers to manually remove samples from the line and compare them with customer and industry specifications. If the results indicate a problem, steps are taken to adjust the operation to eliminate future quality problems. At-line inspection systems have recently begun to emerge that allow these quality checks to be performed immediately next to the line. However, it is clear that time-consuming manual inspection methods are becoming insufficient to meet the customers’ expectations for product consistency and uniformity. Project Overview Begun in 2001, this project builds on a plethora of knowledge accrued over many years of research related to imaging and automation in the food and agricultural industries. The Georgia Tech team is seeking to continue this by expanding the knowledge base associated with the inspection and grading of bread. The concept is to develop a continuous, on-line, 100% coverage, real-time quality analysis system with particular emphasis not only on automated rejection but corrective control as well. The development will take place in two phases. The first phase will focus on the development of the imaging system for use in the inspection aspect of the problem. This will include developing a broader understanding of the baking process and some conceptualization of applicable intelligent control strategies. The second phase will shift toward the field testing of an imaging prototype system with an emphasis on developing the supervisory control schemes for the oven and proofer. This project presents a unique set of challenges that have not as of yet been thoroughly examined. The concept of performing real-time supervisory control of the baking process using vision-based inspection is of particular interest. It is expected that this work will result in a commercially viable system that can achieve the product throughput rates used in the baking industry while meeting the stringent quality and consistency specifications required by the customers. Significant benefits to the baking industry are anticipated in terms of reduced processing costs, improved inspection and control performance, and increased throughput. Generic aspects of the proposed technologies may be applicable to other food processing industries, thus expanding significantly the potential benefits to the food processing community.
The Project Spotlight outlines a current FoodPAC-sponsored project. For more information, contact Wayne Daley in Georgia Tech’s Food Processing Technology Division at (404) 894-3693, wayne.daley@gtri.gatech.edu, or Bonnie Heck in Georgia Tech’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at (404) 894-3145, bonnie.heck@ece.gatech.edu. |
|||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||
|
FY 2001-2002
Report to Industry Now Available FoodPAC’s
Fiscal Year 2001-2002 Report to Industry is now available. The report gives an overview
of the Traditional Industries Program, provides the FoodPAC organizational chart
and calendar of events, and highlights the research results of 12 projects conducted
during FY 2001 as well as activity plans for FY 2002. In addition, the report gives
a detailed listing of the FY 2002 program projects with contact information.The report is available to all members of Georgia’s food processing industry, and can be obtained by calling Lucy Johnson at (404) 894-3412 or e-mail lucy.johnson@gtri.gatech.edu; the report can also be downloaded online at http://foodpac.gatech.edu. |
||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
Remember…Submit comments and story ideas to Angela Colar, Editor at (404) 894-3412 or angela.colar@gtri.gatech.edu |
|||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||
|
For
further information on FoodPAC, please contact: Environmental
Technical Committee Food
Safety Technical Committee Process
& Product Competitiveness Technical Committee |
|
|
|
Making
Georgia the national and international leader |
|
|
|
Return to the What's New at FoodPAC . . . . . . . . . . Return to FoodPAC Publications
Copyright © 2002
FoodPAC
|
