Multivariate product adapted grading of Scots Pine sawn timber for an industrial customer, part 2: Robustness to disturbances

ABSTRACTHolistic-subjective automatic grading (HSAG) of sawn timber by an industrial customer's product outcome is possible through the use of multivariate partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), shown by part one of this two-part study. This second part of the study aimed at testing the robustness to disturbances of such an HSAG system when grading Scots Pine sawn timber partially covered in dust. The set of 308 clean planks from part one of this study, and a set of 310 dusty planks, that by being stored inside a sawmill accumulated a layer of dust, were used. Cameras scanned each plank in a sawmill's automatic sorting system that detected selected feature variables. The planks were then split and processed at a planing mill, and the product grade was correlated to the measured feature variables by partial least squares regression. Prediction models were tested using 5-fold cross-validation in four tests and compared to the reference result of part one of this study. The tests showed that t...