ABSTRACT

The automated classing system (ACS) is the latest development in a longstanding trend in the USDA Cotton Program towards increased mechanization and improved efficiency. Ever since the first High Volume Instrument (HVI) lines were piloted in Lubbock, TX in 1976, the Cotton Program has been steadily moving away from manual grading of cotton. Although the HVI has brought numerous benefits to the grading process, including improved measurements, new measurements that were impossible in manual classing, and removal of human bias from the process, it has come with a price. A problem that most Cotton Program offices struggle with is the need to hire and retain skilled seasonal machine operator's season after season. The ACS holds the potential to remove machine operators from the system. This would further improve the grading process by reducing personnel needs, decreasing the need for training, and removing subtle operator bias from operator-dependent measurements, resulting in a more accurate and stable measurement. These benefits hold the potential to greatly aid the Cotton Program in its mission to serve the needs of the cotton industry.