[jhassell]

On commercial pecan farms, the nuts need graded based on color, size, and variety. Currently, pecans are tumbled in rotating chutes composed of grates of increasing spacing, so that pecans are sorted based on size. Color and variety are not filtered, ultimately resulting in a lower sales price for the farmer. Your device could take this type of sorting to the next level.

[djb_hackernews]

Optical sorting is pretty common in agriculture. Sounds like these guys do what you are proposing for pecans among their competitors: http://www.buhlergroup.com/global/en/process-technologies/op...

[jhassell]

Optical sorting in Ag with devices less than $1,000 ... not common.

[jacquesm]

That's a good point, industrial machinery is very expensive, smart industrial machinery is extremely expensive.

[lostlogin]

That's a little grim. It's the method used for sorting rocks too, so that your gravel doesn't have bits that are too big.