Determination of yarn production characteristics using image processing

This article describes a low-cost image acquisition and processing system, which measures several yarn production characteristics, namely, the fibers twist orientation, the folded yarn twist step, the folded yarn twist orientation, and the existence of single (nonfolded yarn) or multiple cables (folded yarn). The imaging hardware consists of a USB web camera coupled to an analog microscope and a monochromatic light source. The acquired images are analyzed using custom designed software based on the IMAQ Vision image program from National Instruments. A full description of the developed image processing tool is presented, together with several experimental results. The results obtained are consistent with information deduced from high-resolution images acquired using an electron microscope. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 20, 391–399, 2010.Grant sponsor: Portuguese Foundation (FCT) scholarship; Grant number: BD/19028/200