Key Technology Introduces its Cayman BioPrint Roadshow

Key Technology introduces its Cayman® BioPrint® Roadshow. These mobile tours offer convenient live demonstrations and tests of this powerful hyperspectral-based digital sorter to nut and dried fruit processors and others at their factories in select regions within the U.S. and Europe.

Traveling to each processor’s location with an application specialist and sorting the processor’s actual product, Cayman BioPrint quickly proves its ease-of-use and unparalleled performance to maximize the removal of foreign material (FM) and defects while minimizing yield loss, even when handling the highest incoming defect loads. It is field-proven for almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, pistachios, macadamias, peanuts, and raisins, and additional applications are being developed with intelligent software and algorithms that enable the technology to achieve up to 99.5 percent sorting efficiency with very low false reject rates.

These roadshows complement Key’s full-service Innovation and Solutions Centers, which are located at the company’s headquarters in Walla Walla, Washington, USA; and at Key Technology in Beusichem, the Netherlands; Hasselt, Belgium; and Melbourne, Australia.

“Key’s hyperspectral-based BioPrint sorting solution, which was introduced two years ago, already has many happy customers. We’ve found that taking the sorter directly to the processor is a very effective demonstration method,” said Raf Peeters, Technical Sales Support Manager – Optical Sorting at Key Technology, who is based in Sacramento. “The sorter rides along on bumpy roads on the way to visit a prospective customer. It takes about 15 minutes to connect air and electrical and get it up and running. This shows the customer that the technology is robust and easy to use. Then they see it perform – the sorter’s massive success at removing defects and foreign material with very little yield loss – and they understand that it is unlike any other existing camera or laser sorter.”

BioPrint Detection and Cayman

BioPrint is Key’s proprietary hyperspectral sorting solution that combines powerful broad-spectrum hyperspectral imaging hardware with intelligent software and algorithms to recognize the unique biological characteristics of objects. With this unique BioPrint detection, the chute-fed Cayman sorter detects and removes shells, stones, sticks, hulls, and other foreign material effortlessly.

Cayman BioPrint can easily handle extremely high defect loads of more than 50 percent, so it can be used right after the cracker to separate kernels from shells and other undesirable material. By pre-cleaning the product with Cayman BioPrint, downstream processing equipment can operate at much higher efficiencies. It can also be used to sort the reject streams from other sorters to easily recover valuable kernels.

With its unique Start ‘n Sort™ capability, Cayman BioPrint defines ease-of-use. The proprietary Chycane® chute maximizes sorting efficiency by feeding product in a perfect monolayer with a consistent trajectory to the hyperspectral camera and ejection valves. The chute-fed Cayman sorter offers a small footprint, low maintenance with no moving parts, a sanitary design, full stainless steel/IP65, and remote service via the Internet.

“Since the first installation in 2011, Cayman BioPrint has proven its effectiveness sorting nuts, and the commercial adoption of this new technology is growing rapidly,” said Marco Azzaretti, Advanced Inspection Systems Product Manager at Key Technology. “Now, we’re applying the BioPrint solution to other applications and working to integrate it with other sorting platforms within our portfolio.”

For more information about Cayman BioPrint, visit: www.key.net/products/visys/cayman.