Hyperspectral imaging is used in areas of industry where conventional image processing systems have reached their limits. The Austrian software company, Perception Park has specialized in hyperspectral imaging (HSI) technology and now offers complete solutions that are also to be used in the packaging and recycling industries.
When plastics are recycled and returned to the production cycle, they must have a high degree of purity, especially for use in the food sector. However, plastic waste often poses challenges for detection systems in the sorting plant. This is where hyperspectral chemical colour imaging technology can help to accurately identify materials. Hyperspectral cameras are used to convert the chemical properties of a product or material into a spectral signature that functions like a chemical fingerprint. Using special software (Perception Studio), each chemical component is marked with its own colour and made visible.
“Only hyperspectral technology can reliably detect which materials are being processed before they are recycled.”
Markus Burgstaller, Perception Park Managing Director
The Graz-based company is considered a pioneer in the field of HSI technology. “We were the first company to rethink HSI and simplify it so that it can also be used by users without specialised knowledge. Today, it is used for leak testing of cheese packaging as well as for end-of-line inspection of packaged ready-to-eat pizza.” Burgstaller explains.
In the recycling sector, HSI helps to differentiate the material flow, inspect bales and detect plastics in waste. The technology is also used in the wood, pharmaceutical and food industries as well as in numerous other industrial sectors.
“Up to now, software development has been our main business. Now, we are going a step further and also offering complete solutions that can be integrated into existing plants.”
Ulrich Schön, Business Development Manager
To this end, the company has developed Perception Head, a measuring head that can be used for material flow analysis, and Perception Analyzer, a stand-alone solution for batch control.
Analyse material in real time
Hyperspectral cameras operate in the ultraviolet, infrared and visible wavelength ranges. The method used by Perception Park is called Chemical Colour Imaging (CCI) and makes it possible for the first time to analyse the molecular properties of materials in real time using image processing.
This makes it possible to classify plastics of different compositions that hardly differ visually but are not chemically identical. With a clear statement about the material composition, it is then possible, for example, to separate plastic packaging into the correct recycling streams.
But the technology can do even more: it also allows the chemical composition of packaged products to be determined through opaque, printed packaging. The pharmaceutical industry benefits from this because it allows the quality of tablets in a blister to be determined without having to open the packaging. The CCI information obtained can be processed by any image processing system.