Caracterización y cuantificación autmatizadas de menas metálicas mediante visión artificial : proyecto cameva

The CAMEVA project (Automated system for the identification and quantitative measurement of ore minerals) aims to develop an automated system able to perform the identification and quantification of the different minerals present in a sample of metallic ores, in order to facilitate
their industrial use. The system comprises a motorised reflected light microscope, a filter wheel
(monochromator), a research BW camera, and a computer running a digital image analysis software associated to an expert system specially developed for this application.
Multispectral reflectance values are measured for visible light and near IR and UV (350-1000 nm), and no polarisation is usually employed in order to reduce measurement variability due to mineral anisotropy. Mineral identification is carried out by comparison of measured reflectances with spectral reflectance databases (e.g. IMA-COM). Previous experiences showed that the most common ores can be differentiated through the analysis of a microscopic RGB colour image, by constraining the search with additional information such as the type of deposit and the corresponding mineral association. The project goes further, and intends to identify most of the ores from multi-spectral images, including non-visible bands, resorting to an expert system specifically built to deal with the different types of information available (spectral reflectance, sample origin, mineral associations, morphology, etc).
2 Validation of the method will be carried out by comparative análisis of standards and samples
exchanged between the laboratories. Development pays special attention to the total automation of the process (including calibration) and to the self-learning capabilities of the system. Contacts with research institutions and with the industry will allow to apply the system to real problems. The system can be used to control the processing of ores as well as to prevent pollution for the protection of the environment (e.g. sulphides in coal or in industrial tailings). Further applications can be envisaged in the future: e.g. other minerals, coal or
materials, particles, etc.