2 Minuten Wissen – Recycling and Image Processing
How are recycling and image processing related? This episode of 2 Minuten Wissen is about multispectral camera arrays, i.e. cameras that record more than just the usual three channels, for example also in the infrared range of the spectrum.
This array consists of nine cameras, arranged in a 3×3 grid. Accordingly, the array records 9 different spectral regions. The goal of the image signal processing is now to make it look like all cameras are recording from the center camera, since the superimposed raw images are not usable.
Such a camera array can then be used to classify plastics, for example, since different plastics have specific molecular arrangements and thus absorb infrared light differently. If these bands are specifically recorded with the camera array, it is possible to sort plastics and to melt them down again in a single type.