Advise on sensor for 3D bulk volume estimation

General
1

Hi all,

I have a question and would like to hear your opinion on this topic. We are exploring solutions that can give a volume estimation for bulk feed. I did some initial tests with a ZED 2.0 camera to give an idea about the environment. The 3D output (mesh and pointcloud) are shown below.

The camera will eventually be mounted on a vehicle that drive alongside the feed. The scene is stationary, except for the cows and the camera is continuously moving. We can perform computations on the data on a computer.

Based on the above description what would be interesting camera’s from Ensenso that we should consider?

Schermafbeelding 2025-05-01 113800
Schermafbeelding 2025-05-01 1138001101×659 96.6 KB
Schermafbeelding 2025-05-01 113827
Schermafbeelding 2025-05-01 1138271143×712 69.5 KB

2

Hi @wilcobonestroo

thank you for the images of the application. Before we can give advice on the camera type it would be interesting to know more about the following aspects:

  • motion speed of the vehicle
  • distance of camera to object (min/max)
  • required view field size in a single image
  • required XY and depth accuracy

Can you give us some rough estimates on these topics?

Best regards, Rainer

3
  • The motion of the vehicle is up to 0.6 meters per second
  • The distance of the camera to the object depends on where we mount the camera on the vehicle. If it is mounted close to the floor aimed at the heap, the range will be 0,5 to 2.0 meters. If we face the sensor forwards, it will be around 1.0 - 5.0 meters. If we mount higher on the vehicle, the range can go up to 2.0 - 10.0 meters. The mounting is not decided yet, it also depends on the sensors we find. So, up to know, all options are still open.
  • It is difficult to formulate requirements on field size. It is closely related to how we mount the sensor. If it faces forward, we need a larger FoV and we sense both left and right heaps and the vehicle drives in the middel. If we point it towards one side, we don’t have specific requirement for the FoV.
  • The depth accuracy should be in the order of a few centimeters. The accuracy or resolution for XY should be around 5 to 10 centimeters. So on every meter squared, we need around 10 * 10 measurements as minimum to perform the volume estimation.
4

Dear @wilcobonestroo ,

thanks for the additional details. That looks like the effective 3D requirements are rather coarse. You can probably go with an N-Series camera, which is available with many different view fields, or a B-Series. The latter comes with RGB sensors and a very wide viewing angle and depth range. This might even be the most flexible option in your case. Here is a link to the specs in our camera selector: B57-4-GN.

1 Like
5

Can you provide me with a quote for the and the N30, N31 and B57 at w.j.bonestroo@saxion.nl

6

@wilcobonestroo I forwarded your request to your local sales contact yesterday and you should receive a quote via email quickly.

1 Like