Real-Time Denim Fabric Inspection Using Image Analysis

In spite of using modern weaving technology, many types of fabric defects occur during production. Most defects arising in the production process of a fabric are still detected by human inspection. A machine vision system that can be adapted to different types of fabric inspection machines is proposed in this study. Image frames of denim fabric were acquired using a CCD line-scan camera. An algorithm was developed by using the Gabor filter and double thresholding methods. The performance of the algorithm was tested real-time by analysing a denim fabric sample which contained six types of defects: hole, warp lacking, weft lacking, soiled yarn, water soil and yarn flow (knot). The defective regions of the denim fabric sample were detected and labelled successfully.