Development of software to automate the quantification of the extent of penetration of treated wood

IRG/WP 21-20678

Y Susa, D Watanabe, T Shigeyama, Y Sugai

In Japan, Japanese Agricultural Standard (JAS) by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and Approved Quality (AQ) by the Japan Housing and Wood Technology Center have established the penetration standard for treated wood. In our company, we measure the degree of penetration by either visual assessment or image processing. In the visual assessment, the degree of penetration is determined by calculation in our head. Although this method allows for quick measurement, it requires experience for accurate measurement. On the other hand, in the case of image processing, the degree of penetration is determined by measuring the area of coloration using some software e.g., Microsoft Paint, ImageJ. Although image processing is more time-consuming than visual assessment, it does not require the same experience as visual assessment. Since these two methods are not both quick and easy, we thought there was room for improvement. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to establish a quick and easy method for measuring the degree of penetration. To achieve this goal, we developed a new software program for measuring the degree of penetration. The program is written in Python and uses RGB color images. The procedure of the program is to identify the contour of the wood cross-section and classify each pixel as penetrated or unpenetrated. The number of pixels classified as penetrated is then divided by that of total pixels to calculate the degree of penetration, which is output to a spreadsheet automatically. As a result of using the software, we were able to measure the degree of penetration quickly and easily, and the accuracy was equivalent to that of the conventional method. In this paper, we explain the functions of the software and show an example of using the software to measure the degree of penetration of our products. This result is important because it will lead to the improvement of the quality control and the productivity of work.


Keywords: penetration, measurement, automation, software, wood preservative

Conference: 21-11-1/2 IRG52 Webinar


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