An artificial intelligence (AI) coffee bean sorter, jointly developed by the Ministry of Agriculture’s Tea Research and Extension Station (TRES) and local coffee operators, has doubled the processing rate of coffee beans with a success rate of as much as 95 percent, the TRES said, touting it as an example of Taiwan being an “AI island.”
The decortication and screening of coffee beans is highly contingent on when a customer places an order, TRES director Su Tsung-chen (蘇宗振) said on Friday.
The process of picking out defective beans by hand is highly labor-intensive, especially because raw beans are tiny and the workers must be trained to identify defects, he added.
Photo: Yang Yuan-ting, Taipei Times
The sorting rate of non-defective coffee beans had been increased from two to three kilograms per hour with the hand-picking process, to five to six kilograms per hour using the AI coffee bean sorter, he said.
That is a twofold increase, with a success rate of as high as 95 percent, Su added.
TRES spent three years improving the automated coffee bean separator to increase the efficiency of the screening.
The automated coffee bean separator has obtained a utility model patent in Taiwan, and its technology has been transferred to private manufacturers, TRES said.
TRES said it also integrated image recognition technology with a utility model patent for an automated coffee bean separator to develop the AI coffee bean sorter, which allows it to examine each bean with a 360-degree view before classifying the defects into different levels.
Defective coffee beans with insect bites can be screened out, effectively reducing labor costs, TRES said.
With increasing labor costs, there is potential for the AI coffee bean sorter to be widely adopted, TRES associate research fellow Liu Chien-ju (劉千如) said.
Foreign machines can process dozens of kilograms of coffee beans per hour, which is much more than the machine made in Taiwan, but without the technique to achieve precise sorting and grading, their applications are limited to regular commercial coffee beans, Liu said.
In contrast, the machine and system made in Taiwan can accurately scan the appearance of each coffee bean and classify them, making it a better choice for specialty coffee, she added.
Taiwan has 1180 hectares of coffee trees planted, with an annual output of 980 tonnes, 2022 agriculture statistics showed.
Separately, TRES also touted the Taiwan tea Assortment and Grading system (TAGs) it introduced five years ago, which it said has helped consumers decide the tea quality and flavors they want without having to taste the tea themselves.
TAGs was developed by TRES based on the Taiwan Special Tea Flavor Wheel, allowing the jury to grade a tea by its appearance, color, fragrance, taste and texture, which would then be compiled into a report for consumers.
While red wine and coffee have flavor wheels in Western nations, Taiwan was the first in the world to analyze and develop a flavor wheel for oriental tea, even before China, Su said.
Combined with the flavor wheel, TAGs was created with the aim of helping Taiwanese tea gain a foothold in the international market for specialty tea, he added.
The Taoyuan Flight Attendants’ Union yesterday vowed to protest at the EVA Air Marathon on Sunday next week should EVA Airway Corp’s management continue to ignore the union’s petition to change rules on employees’ leave of absence system, after a flight attendant reportedly died after working on a long-haul flight while ill. The case has generated public discussion over whether taking personal or sick leave should affect a worker’s performance review. Several union members yesterday protested at the Legislative Yuan, holding white flowers and placards, while shouting: “Life is priceless; requesting leave is not a crime.” “The union is scheduled to meet with
‘UNITED FRONT’ RHETORIC: China’s TAO also plans to hold weekly, instead of biweekly, news conferences because it wants to control the cross-strait discourse, an expert said China’s plan to expand its single-entry visa-on-arrival service to Taiwanese would be of limited interest to Taiwanese and is a feeble attempt by Chinese administrators to demonstrate that they are doing something, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said the program aims to facilitate travel to China for Taiwanese compatriots, regardless of whether they are arriving via direct flights or are entering mainland China through Hong Kong, Macau or other countries, and they would be able to apply for a single-entry visa-on-arrival at all eligible entry points in China. The policy aims
Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan would issue a decision at 8pm on whether to cancel work and school tomorrow due to forecasted heavy rain, Keelung Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) said today. Hsieh told reporters that absent some pressing reason, the four northern cities would announce the decision jointly at 8pm. Keelung is expected to receive between 300mm and 490mm of rain in the period from 2pm today through 2pm tomorrow, Central Weather Administration data showed. Keelung City Government regulations stipulate that school and work can be canceled if rain totals in mountainous or low-elevation areas are forecast to exceed 350mm in
EVA Airways president Sun Chia-ming (孫嘉明) and other senior executives yesterday bowed in apology over the death of a flight attendant, saying the company has begun improving its health-reporting, review and work coordination mechanisms. “We promise to handle this matter with the utmost responsibility to ensure safer and healthier working conditions for all EVA Air employees,” Sun said. The flight attendant, a woman surnamed Sun (孫), died on Friday last week of undisclosed causes shortly after returning from a work assignment in Milan, Italy, the airline said. Chinese-language media reported that the woman fell ill working on a Taipei-to-Milan flight on Sept. 22
RSS