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Writer's pictureEmily Harte-Merchand

Swath Gobbler News #1

July 2023



Greetings from the team at Application Insight!  We’re working hard to keep you informed on a variety of Swath Gobbler topics while not overloading your inbox.  We hope you find this newsletter both informative and helpful.  We invite your feedback and hope you have continued success with your Swath Gobbler.


IN THIS NEWSLETTER

  • Software Updates! - Swath Gobbler Pro V1.3.1 Released

  • Tips and Tricks - Image Spacing 101

  • Swath Gobbler Scientific - Progress Report

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Software Updates! - Swath Gobbler Pro V1.3.1 Released


Swath Gobbler V1.3.,1 released on July 19, addresses several software bugs discovered from continued testing and user feedback.  We recommend installing this at your earliest convenience.  Here are some basics about the update:


  • In a prior version, one user reported capturing blurry images.  This was most commonly observed if Image Spacing was set below 35.5mm.  The camera continuously captures images, even when the paper is moving.  However, we limit which images are transferred to the PC to those when the paper has stopped moving.  Under certain circumstances, the camera image buffer was not cleared properly, resulting in images transferring to the PC that reflected paper movement, not after the paper stopped.  We’ve addressed this issue in the latest version.

  • The code was reorganized to be more event-driven.  You might see a subtle improvement in scanning performance but most importantly, this makes the software more resilient to differences in computer performance and hardware configurations.  Sometimes the small improvements add up quickly, especially when scanning hundreds of images on long length swaths.

Head over to sgsoft.swathgobbler.com for the latest software and user manual downloads.

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Tips and Tricks - Image Spacing 101


While resolving the bug related to Image Spacing, we decided this would be a great opportunity to describe the setting behavior in greater detail.  In short, the Image Spacing value sets the distance the paper travels before another image is taken.  At 35.5mm (the default setting), consecutive images align nearly perfectly with no overlap.


 Example 1             Image Spacing 35.5 mm


In the first example above, the Image Spacing setting was set to 35.5mm, the default setting.  Each dotted square represents an image from the swath (the swath is the wide rectangle with the shaded blue color representing spray drops).  Notice how the images are touching but not overlapping along the swath.  Each image relates to a single point on the percent coverage or hits per unit area curve (the arrows point to each bend in the plot).  When generating the curve, a straight line joins each point (linear interpolation) to provide a more aesthetically pleasing depiction of the data.


 Example 2   Image Spacing 106.5 mm


In the second example sketch above, the Image Spacing was increased to 106.5mm.  Now there’s a gap equivalent to two adjacent images in size.  Notice how the same data shows a similar trend but the graph looks rough or chunky.  This is because the sample resolution has been reduced.  Don’t confuse this with image resolution - we’ll talk about that later.  Scanning will be faster because only 6 images are scanned, instead of 16 from the first example.  While exaggerated, you might find this acceptable for quick and rough approximation measurements in the field or if your PC is tight on storage space for the images.


 Example 3      Image Spacing 23.7 mm          


In the third example sketch above, the Image Spacing is reduced to 23.7mm.  This results in the image being overlapped by adjacent images by about 1/3 on each side.  This may smooth the curve while simultaneously capturing the effects of droplets (especially large droplets) that span between images.  However, it will take longer to scan considering 23 images are in the swath rather than 16.  


Image Spacing only impacts the sample resolution.  It impacts the number of images taken and the resolution of the data plot.  The smaller the Image Spacing, the higher the quality plot, but it will take longer to scan and require more storage space to manage the extra images.  Vice versa, the higher the Image Spacing, the plot quality decreases, scanning speed increases, while storage requirements decrease.  The image resolution remains constant - the camera system always provides 1200 DPI images regardless of Image Spacing.  The reported values of Percent Coverage and Hits Per Unit Area are both ratios in relation to the overall area captured in each image.  This means that while the image scanning area is 35.5mm X 35.5mm in size, each image’s data is distilled down to a single point along the swath.  


A second reason to adjust the Image Spacing would be to provide similar resolution or spacing to compare to a parallel study.  For example, if you have water sensitive paper spaced at 6 inches, you may choose to adjust your Image Spacing to 152.4mm.  Keep in mind, aligning the two data sets might be very tricky. Alternatively, if you heavily rely on imperial units (inches), you could set your spacing to a factor of 25.4mm (1 inch).  For example, at 38.1mm (1.5 inch), the images are spaced close to the image sample size of 35.5mm.  You'll get 8 images, spaced evenly per foot with a small amount of gap (minor sample resolution loss).

Ultimately, the choice is yours - you'll have to experiment with the right balance between resolution, scanning speed, or how you want the data to be formatted.  If you're unsure, the default value of 35.5mm remains a great value to get the most out of your Swath Gobbler.

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Swath Gobbler Scientific - Progress Report


As you may already know, Swath Gobbler Scientific is the advanced version of Swath Gobbler Professional which will add the following features:

  • Scanning several swaths using multiple Swath Gobblers, simultaneously, all connected to a single computer.

  • Combining multiple swaths from a trial (single spray pass) into a single data set.

  • Reporting the multi-swath data set as a heat-map to visualize changes in motion, operation behaviors, changing environmental conditions, and other factors along a single spray pass.  

  • Increased automation of several scanning and analysis steps to enhance and expedite swath analysis.


You bought Swath Gobbler to make informed decisions and validate your spray operations.  Your time is valuable and we know it.  A goal of Swath Gobbler Scientific is to scan, analyze, and report swath performance as fast or faster than your ability to set up, spray, dry, and collect the swaths.  Further, multi-swath analysis will unlock greater insights on operational, behavioral, and environmental factors that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to extract from a single swath.  


In developing Swath Gobbler Scientific we’ve had to rethink some of the back-end processes for data collection and analysis, especially when supporting multiple simultaneous Swath Gobblers.  The good news is that as performance enhancements are made, we’re pushing them into Swath Gobbler Professional, further enhancing your experience and system performance. 


We intend to release Swath Gobbler Scientific before the end of the year.  Stay tuned, we’ll have lots to share in the coming months. 

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Wrapping up!


Thank you again for purchasing Swath Gobbler!  Tell us what you think - we would love to hear about your Swath Gobbler experiences.  We hope it’s answering the challenging questions you face.  Feel free to reach out to swathgobbler@applicationinsightllc.com if you have questions, comments, need support, or have ideas for improvements.  That’s all for this newsletter, we hope you look forward to the next one!


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