Application Notes Archive - Headwall Photonics

Environmental Monitoring

Catching a drone after a flight over water from a small boat

Assessing Health of Coral

July 12, 2024

A team from Headwall scanned tanks of rehabilitating coral at Mote Marine Laboratories in Summerland Key, Florida using the Headwall Nano HP VNIR hyperspectral imaging sensor on our Rotary Stage. We also flew the Nano HP over a coral reef off of Key West using the DJI Matrice 300.

Coastal Ocean Vision's boat on Santuit Pond in Mashpee, MA

Harmful Algal Blooms

November 6, 2023

Hyperspectral imaging can be used to identify and quantify Harmful Algal Blooms. Prompt identification can improve efficacy of mitigation strategies.

Two sets of tomato trusses, used to estimate Brix values

Non-Destructive Brix Estimation in Tomatoes

October 30, 2024

Sweetness is the main driver for consumer liking of tomatoes and all other fruits, and Brix is commonly accepted as the proxy for the total concentration
of the associated sugars. Measuring Brix has become the primary way to access the taste quality of tomatoes in the industry. Traditionally, destructive methods, such as refractometry, are employed to quantify the Brix

An RGB image of a mixture of herbs and spices alongside a hyperspectral false-color scan of the same pile.

Cayenne and Oregano

March 27, 2024

Spectral classification via the perClass Mira Software makes the task of assessing herb and spice quality less challenging by providing a clear indication of the presence of adulterants, and also provides a workflow of detecting unknown adulterants and additives.

Foreign Object Detection in Cheese

January 16, 2024

When large blocks of cheese are unwrapped, cut, and repackaged, processors must inspect the cheese for any remaining debris. Clear or even tinted plastic is notoriously difficulty to spot by eye or conventional inspection methods. Recalls are costly and damaging to a brand’s reputation. Headwall’s MV.C NIR and perClass Mira Software provide a solution for detecting foreign objects in cheese

Hyperspectral scan of bread moisture content

Surface Moisture Estimation of Bread: Rapid, Non-Contact Measurement

January 4, 2024

A significant challenge for industrial production of baked goods is monitoring moisture content. This attribute is
a crucial measurement at all stages of production. Raw materials can contain water that can cause clumping or degradation of products during storage, lowering shelf-life and product value down.

Good and Bad Blueberry false-color overlay

Non-Contact Prediction of Blueberry Brix

December 11, 2023

Headwall’s hyperspectral imaging (HSI) technology, blueberries can be inspected based on their condition, and their Brix value can be predicted, allowing for a non-destructive, rapid measurement of large quantities of berries, with results in real time.

Fish Inspection

November 7, 2023

By scanning product passing underneath, Headwall’s hyperspectral imaging systems can produce a histamine map for each fish fillet, and can calculate average values and send results to a plant control system for archiving or to alert an operator.

Oregano and Parsley

November 6, 2023

Herbs and spices are one of the worst offenders of food fraud. Their complex cross-border supply chains, high price per kilogram, and the fact that they are often sold in powder or particulate forms make them prime targets for adulteration, dilution, and substitution with cheaper materials.

Orange Processing

November 6, 2023

Sweetness, or the concentration of soluble solids is of particular importance to orange processors. Commonly reported in degrees Brix, it is a key quality factor in assessing the grade of the product delivered into the processing facility.

Meat and Poultry Inspection

October 28, 2023

Headwall provides application-specific hyperspectral imaging (HSI) sensors and systems designed to be integrated into existing processing facilities. These sensors can be used for grading meat, poultry or fish based on characteristics that may not be detectable by the human eye or may not be measureable by conventional machine vision cameras.

Figure 3. Pipelines, power lines, and towers are examples of structures subject to aging and corrosion due to environmental conditions, as well as the contents that they carry. Time-consuming and potentially hazardous visual inspection can be costly and dangerous, and inspection by high resolution color (RGB) cameras can miss early warning signs of failure that could be detected using hyperspectral imaging.

Infrastructure Inspection and Corrosion Detection

November 7, 2023

All materials degrade over time, and when those materials provide structural integrity for infrastructure such as buildings, dams, towers, bridges, rail, and roads; or provide energy delivery in the form of pipelines and electrical lines, early detection can save lives, as well as money.

According to GlobalData, an industry data and analytics firm and Mining Technology Magazine, the popularity of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) across the mining industry has grown rapidly in recent years. Approximately 70% of the major mining companies have conducted drone trials since 2016 and several are considering widespread deployment not just for survey applications, but also for safety, stockpile management, and monitoring tailings and tailings dams. Ground-based hyperspectral imaging can also be used for many of the same applications.

Airborne Hyperspectral Mining Operations

November 7, 2023

Prospecting is the search for minerals and ores that suggest the presence of a mineral deposit worthy of mining. Rapid and accurate mapping of the surface mineralogy of large areas greatly improves the efficiency and efficacy of mineral prospecting. Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) can produce maps of surface mineralogy using airborne

Mineral Prospecting

November 7, 2023

Qualitative change over time: Progression of salt-weathering at Hungington Mausoleum, San Marino, CA

Artwork and Document Analysis

November 26, 2024

Easily deployable, hyperspectral sensors are used to reveal secrets of famous documents such as the Gettysburg Address, ancient maps, and archeological artifacts such as pottery shards (ostracons) that represent the oldest known representation of Hebrew writing.

Spectral Imaging for Cultural Heritage

November 7, 2023

The science of spectral imaging in the infrared ranges is extremely valuable to the field of artwork analysis and conservation. It is a non-invasive, non-contact means by which complete spectral data is collected for every pixel within the field of view across hundreds of narrow, contiguous spectral bands within the

Application Notes

Assessing Health of Coral

Harmful Algal Blooms

Non-Destructive Brix Estimation in Tomatoes

Cayenne and Oregano

Foreign Object Detection in Cheese

Surface Moisture Estimation of Bread: Rapid, Non-Contact Measurement

Non-Contact Prediction of Blueberry Brix

Fish Inspection

Oregano and Parsley

Orange Processing

Meat and Poultry Inspection

Infrastructure Inspection and Corrosion Detection

Airborne Hyperspectral Mining Operations

Mineral Prospecting

Artwork and Document Analysis

Spectral Imaging for Cultural Heritage

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Call Us : +1 (978) 353-4100
Contact us