The use of video imaging techniques for cotton trash measurements is becoming accepted by the ginning and textile industries. First and second generation trashmeter systems reported measures of total trash area and count; however, other measurements are being demanded from these systems. Future systems will need to produce additional information about the types of trash in near real-time (i.e., numerous reports per second). The hardware will have to survive in cotton ginning, as well as classing office, environments.

An evaluation was performed using modern image analysis methods to extract more information from the images with less sample preparation. Objectives were to identify procedures for use with on-line video trash measuring systems located in cotton gins, and to expand capabilities of High Volume instrument Trashmeters in recognizing different types of trash. This paper discusses these modern imaging techniques, and suggests further research.