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Best practices for completing a successful scan

When you’re getting familiarized with your new Harvest Quality Vision 3.0 (HQV) scanning system, it’s normal to need to practice a little in order to take an effective scan sample.

The following includes key practices to follow for a high quality scan, and the solutions to common problems that may come up.

Standard Scan Method  

Hold your tablet so the camera is facing straight down towards the fruit. The device should be level and parallel to the fruit.

Hold the tablet approximately 40cm or 16inches* away from the fruit. If you are too close or too far away from the bin, the mask will not appear correctly.

*Note: if you are scanning small fruit, you may be instructed to scan closer by default. See note at bottom of page for small fruit scanning tips.

Cover the top of the bin following an S-shaped motion and return to the same corner you started at as shown in the animation below.

The green dots will cover areas you have already scanned. You do not need to go over these areas once they have been painted green.

Scanning a standard apple bin should take approximately 10-15 seconds. The scan screen will display a count up to 30 seconds and stop taking more information in after this point.

A clicking noise will sound while the camera is actively scanning. Each click indicates a high resolution image being captured. If you move the camera too slow, not enough images will be captured to make a quality scan.

If you move the camera too fast a warning will display on the screen. Moving the camera too fast will produce too many images and will increase processing time.

Where possible, avoid the edges of the bin. Avoiding the edges of the bin within the view of your scan improves the accuracy of capturing your fruit sample and shortens scan processing times. Please refer to the animation of scan technique.

Scan animation

Avoid over-scanning

Continuous movement is important for a thorough scan result. We recommend moving the iPad over the bin, so that you have covered over the majority of the fruit within 10-15 seconds.
Do not spend time scanning over the same spot repeatedly: it may degrade the overall result, as well as produce larger scan files that take additional processing time.

The fruit does not have to be fully densely covered in green dots in order to gather enough information.

Standard Scan Distance*

The HQV camera has a minimum operating range of approximately 40cm (16in) for fruit apple size and larger. 

If the camera is too far away from the fruit, the dots will not appear in green over the fruit.

If the camera is too close, the scan can lose tracking and focus.

An example of how far to hold the iPad above a bin for scanning effectively.

*note: for information on scanning smaller sized fruit, scroll to end of the page

Aim for consistent lighting during your scan

Outdoor and bright, even lighting work best for HQV scanning. Sunlight will produce the best results for size and color. When a scan is taking place outdoors, environmental conditions will vary. This is not an issue if the light remains consistent in the moment you are performing your scan. Take note of your light meter – if there is a notable change in lighting while the scan is active, the tracking process may be negatively impacted. Check if there is anything blocking the light meter (like a finger!) affecting the sensor.

If you are scanning indoors in a dark area, there is a preference that can be enable that will trigger the devices flashlight to come on when scanning. For information on how to change this preference, see this article.

Allow iPad time to adjust for white balance

In some instances, the color accuracy is impacted negatively if the white balance is offset prior to beginning a scan. This may be because the iPad has auto-adjusted the white balance to a range based on its current lighting conditions, not reflective of the scanning environment. For example, if the iPad camera was in a dark setting, and then an attempt to scan is started immediately in brighter lighting conditions without any pause for auto-adjustment, white balance inaccuracies can occur.

To avoid this:

• Before you press Start Scan, hold the iPad higher than the normal scanning distance. Wait 3-5 seconds, and if possible look at the iPad's screen to ensure the color of the fruit appears correct (as it would in real life).

• Once confirmed, press Start Scan and then move in the regular scan motion.

Avoid initiating a scan when too close to the objects, as this tends to throw off the white balance calibration. On the screen it will look black as opposed to the desired green dot overlay – black coverage happens when the distance is too short between the iPad and the location of the fruit.

Scan Distance for Small Fruit

When scanning fruit smaller than the standard size (apples), the distance between the camera and the fruit can change. In the HQV preference menu, there are options for changing the scan distance limit. For fruit the size of cherries or smaller, the recommended scan distance limits should be changed to 20 cm minimum and 30 cm maximum. For fruit around the size of a prune plum, the scan distance should be 30 cm minimum and 40 cm maximum.

Scan Resolution for Small Fruit

When scanning fruit smaller than the standard size (apples), the resolution of the images captured in the scan can be adjusted for better results. In the HQV preference menu, there are options for changing the default resolution of the scans. For fruit cherry size or smaller, the recommended resolution is ‘Ultra High’. For fruit the size of a prune plum, the ‘High’ resolution setting is recommended.