A machine-vision system was developed to identify different types of c
rown end shapes of corn kernels. Image processing techniques were used
to enhance the object and reduce noise in the acquired image. Corn ke
rnels were classified as convex or dent based on their crown end shape
. Dent corn kernels were further classified into smooth dent or non-sm
ooth dent kernels. A one-dimensional line profile analysis was used to
obtain the needed three-dimensional information. This system provided
an average accuracy of approximately 87% compared to human inspection
. The processing time was between 1.5 and 1.8 s/kernel.