Hardwood Lumber Edger and Trimmer Training System
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Hardwood lumber edger and trimmer training system D.E. Kline E.M. Wengert P.A. Araman P. Klinkhachorn in operator skill. Realizing that a primary factor affect- Abstract ing lumber value is hardwood lumber grade, compu- This paper describes a computerized hardwood terized training programs have been developed to help lumber edger and trimming training system. The pur- lumber manufacturers (3,5). These programs have pose of the training system is to help edger and trimmer been designed primarily to train hardwood lumber operators and sawmill managers better understand graders. To further assist the hardwood lumber man- how hardwood lumber grade, surface measure, and ufacturers, training tools are needed that are specifically price interact to affect lumber value. The training sys- designed to help the edger and trimmer operator better tem can be used both as a training tool and as a testing understand all the factors that influence lumber value. tool. As a training tool, the user can observe how the A research effort is presently being conducted to placement of edging and trimming lines can affect help improve the performance of edging and trimming lumber value. As a testing tool, the user’s learning operations. The research has focused on developing progress after various training sessions can be tested. tools to improve the skills and on-line performance of To maximize ease-of-use as well as programming flex- edger and trimmer operators. This paper describes a ibility, the training program was developed under computer program that was developed to simulate an Microsoft Windows 3.0. Various aspects and features actual edging and trimming operation for training and of the computer program are described in this paper testing purposes. The aim of the computer program is and an example session with the program is provided. to help edger and trimmer operators better understand how hardwood lumber grade, surface measure, and price interact to affect lumber value. Program description Previous studies have shown that lumber value can be increased by over 20 percent through ideal edging System components and trimming (1,2). Such lumber value increases can The hardwood lumber edger and trimmer training be translated into an increase of millions of dollars for program consists of four main components: 1) board hardwood lumber manufacturers. A recent edging and display; 2) edging and trimming simulator; 3) hard- trimming study (8) found that the lumber value recov- wood lumber grader; and 4) performance feedback. ery at the edger and trimmer ranged from 62 to 78 percent of the optimum for several sawmills producing red oak lumber. These percentages indicate there is a great potential to increase mill profitability by improv- The authors are, respectively, Assistant Professor and Professor, Dept. of Wood Sci. and Forest Prod., VPI&SU, ing edging and trimming practices. Blacksburg, VA 24061-0323; Project Leader, USDA Forest It is difficult to make ideal edging and trimming Serv., Southeastern Forest Expt. Sta., Brooks Forest Prod. Center, VPI&SU; and Associate Professor, Dept. of Electri- decisions because of problems associated with the cal and Computer Engineering, West Virginia Univ., Mor- complexities of National Hardwood Lumber Associa- gantown, WV 26506-6101. This research was sponsored by tion (NHLA) grading rules (7), the inability of an opera- a cooperative research agreement between the USDA Forest tor to include the effect of lumber prices and grading Service, Southeastern Forest Expt. Sta. and VPI&SU. This paper was received for publication in July 1991. rules into the decision process, inadequate machine © Forest Products Research Society 1992. feedback (e.g. board width when edging), and the range Forest Prod. J. 42(1):53-57. FOREST PRODUCTS JOURNAL Vol. 42, No. 1 53 Board display. – The board display component of ing performance feedback is by visually comparing the the program selects a “board (i.e. an unedged and user's edging and trimming solution to an optimum untrimmed lumber specimen) from a library of boards (i.e., maximum lumber value) solution. Therefore, the and displays the board on the computer display. Each optimum edging and trimming solution is also included board is represented by an image file consisting of the in the original board image file. Determined a priori coordinates that define the outline of the board edges using a separate optimization program, the optimum and the size, location, and type of all features on each edging and trimming solution includes the grade, sur- face. Feature types represented in the image file include face measure, and the outline coordinates for the max- wane, sound and unsound knots, stain, decay, pith, imum lumber value. Hence, the optimum solution can holes, checks, and splits. An encoding system was used be graphically overlain onto the user’s solution so any to represent the board features and was based on the differences can be seen. coding system used in Klinkhachorn’s (4) hardwood The separate optimization program determines op- lumber grading program. timum edging and trimming solutions by iteratively The primary function of the board display is to generating combinations of edging and trimming lines, translate the coordinates contained in a board image comparing lumber values from the different edging and file to a bit-mapped image on the computer display. trimming line combinations, and selecting a solution Different contrasting colors are used for each board that gives the highest value. Lumber values are com- feature so the user can easily distinguish between the puted based on volume and grade according to NHLA various feature types. Displayed images can also be rules. The optimization algorithm is discussed in more “flipped to compare the opposite faces of the board. In detail by Regalado et al. (8). addition to the displayed image, the board display Other measures are also included to provide perfor- presents and maintains useful information such as the mance feedback. The edging and trimming simulator overall length, width, and surface measure of the un- and the hardwood lumber grader can be used any num- edged and untrimmed piece of lumber. ber of times on a given board so the user can observe Edging and trimming simulator. – The edging and how incremental changes in the edging or trimming trimming simulator is used to place the edger and lines affect the lumber value. Useful statistics can be trimmer sawlines on the board display and to generate enabled in the display, such as the percent recovery in the corresponding piece of lumber to be graded. This lumber value. Also, a clock can be enabled so the user simulator allows the user to independently move the can observe how much time it takes to make a decision edger sawlines and the trimmer sawlines any number or how the time factor affects decision making. of times. The present resolution of the simulator is 1/4-inch increments for both the edger and trimmer Modes of operation sawlines. Every time an edger or trimmer sawline is The training program was designed to run in one of moved, the board display is updated to show where the two modes of operation, a training mode and a testing sawkerfs are to be placed and the resulting lumber mode. In the training mode, full access to all the pro- length, width, and surface measure. When the user is gram functions is allowed so the user can better learn satisfied with the placement of the sawkerfs, the sim- proper edging and trimming techniques. In general, the ulator generates an image file of the resulting piece of training mode allows the user to explore “what-if” type lumber. The lumber image file is generated by redefin- questions. For example, the user can observe how the ing the board outline coordinates and excluding all placement of edging and trimming lines can affect features that fall outside of the sawlines. The lumber lumber value. Questions can be investigated such as, image file is then processed by the hardwood lumber “How does the value change if I increase the board grader. width by 1/4-inch?” or, “How much wane can the board Hardwood lumber grader. – The lumber grading have before there is a drop in grade?” Also, the optimum component of the program employs Klinkhachorn’s (4) edging and trimming solution can be overlain onto the hardwood lumber grading routine to establish the board at any point in the training session so the user NHLA lumber grade. Potential grades used in the cur- can observe the sensitivity in lumber value. Relative to rent version are FAS, FAS 1-Face, 1 Common, 2A the optimum solution, questions can be answered such Common, and 3A Common. The grading routine uses as, “How much does lumber value change if I slightly the lumber image file generated from the edging and overedge the lumber?” Finally, changes in lumber trimming simulator as input. After the lumber grade is prices and how they affect lumber value can be ex- established by the grading routine, information is pre- plored in the training mode. sented by the board display, including the resulting The program testing mode is designed to test a lumber grade and lumber value. A database of unit user’s performance under a more realistic edging and prices for the various grades of hardwood lumber is trimming operation. Unlike the training mode, the used to established lumber value, and it can be up- sequence of events that occur in the testing mode are dated whenever necessary. fixed and occur in the following order 1) load a board Performance feedback. – To allow the user to ex- to be processed; 2) select the edge and trim lines; plore how different edging and trimming lines can affect 3) grade the board; and 4) display performance feed- lumber value, a mechanism is provided in the program back.