Eqraft’s Eqrader assesses, selects, and sorts potatoes
Jouke Aalvanger and Leon Vaandrager, leading the development of the Eqrade optical sorting machine for potatoes.
Eqraft partnered again with Biometic, a leading Italian company specialising in quality control scanning solutions and advanced machine to produce the new Eqrader for potatoes which assesses, selects, and sorts potatoes based on configurable classifications. It examines both the outside and inside, just like the successful, jointly developed Eqrader for onions.
Eqraft’s R&D team, led by Leon Vaandrager and Jouke Aalvanger, are the masterminds behind the new machine. Despite their experience with onions, they faced unique challenges with potatoes.
Leon Vaandrager said: “We had to start from scratch again. Potato sizes and shapes differ significantly within the same variety or harvest. Not to mention heart shapes, twins, and dents. Unlike onions, potatoes don’t roll easily, requiring significant design adaptations.”
The Eqraft and Biometic teams devised a smart solution: the potato goes sideways through the machine, reducing size deviation. Each potato is rotated 360 degrees for a comprehensive external scan. The engineers learned from the optical grader for onions and started collecting potato data immediately. They train AI by demonstrating defects, with tens of thousands of potatoes already photographed as input.
The new grader focuses on both table potatoes and potatoes for french fries. The clients can configure the machine to their specific criteria. Leon: ‘Skin defects might be ignored if potatoes are peeled, but the same flaws could lead to rejection, depending on the specific demands.’ The machine has a variable amount of exits and is modular. As always with Eqraft, flexibility is paramount.
Eqraft sets the bar high. “This will be the best grader in the potato industry,’ says Jouke Aalvanger.
The Eqrader for potatoes features advanced newly developed internal scanners and software for internal quality scanning, like the detection of diseases, parasites, and fungi.
New technology allows the detection of hollow spaces. Giancarlo Zane, head of sales & engineering at Biometic said: “This was only possible because we developed the optical potato grader together from the ground up. It led to specific choices in material, in order to minimise interference with the scanners, and provide an optimal view.” Aalvanger adds: ‘We are true pioneers together.’
The Eqrader for potatoes is an all-round solution: from the detection of foreign objects, the sorting by size and weight, and the recognition of external defects such as cracks, sprouts, or deformities, to internal classification. All this at high capacity, just like the Eqrader for onions. The first Eqraders for potatoes are expected to be operational next year.
