Impurities Detection in Intensity Inhomogeneous Edible Bird’s Nest (EBN) Using a U-Net Deep Learning Model

As an important export, cleanliness control on edible bird’s nest (EBN) is paramount. Automatic impurities detection is in urgent need to replace manual practices. However, effective impurities detection algorithm is yet to be developed due to the unresolved inhomogeneous optical properties of EBN. The objective of this work is to develop a novel U-net based algorithm for accurate impurities detection. The algorithm leveraged the convolution mechanisms of U-net for precise and localized features extraction. Output probability tensors were then generated from the deconvolution layers for impurities detection and positioning. The U-net based algorithm outperformed previous image processing-based methods with a higher impurities detection rate of 96.69% and a lower misclassification rate of 10.08%. The applicability of the algorithm was further confirmed with a reasonably high dice coefficient of more than 0.8. In conclusion, the developed U-net based algorithm successfully mitigated intensity inhomogeneity in EBN and improved the impurities detection rate

Design revolutions: IASDR 2019 Conference Proceedings. Volume 2: Living, Making, Value

In September 2019 Manchester School of Art at Manchester Metropolitan University was honoured to host the bi-annual conference of the International Association of Societies of Design Research (IASDR) under the unifying theme of DESIGN REVOLUTIONS. This was the first time the conference had been held in the UK. Through key research themes across nine conference tracks – Change, Learning, Living, Making, People, Technology, Thinking, Value and Voices – the conference opened up compelling, meaningful and radical dialogue of the role of design in addressing societal and organisational challenges. This Volume 2 includes papers from Living, Making and Value tracks of the conference