Coffee Bean Defects Automatic Classification Realtime Application Adopting Deep Learning

The coffee industry contributes to the economic restructuring of many countries, often associated with a closed process from production to consumption. The green coffee bean grading standard provided by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) is one of the best methods for grading coffee beans. Traditionally, the assessment of quality and classification of coffee beans relies on visual examination, which demands significant time and effort and is easily inaccurate. Deep learning technology, characterized by precision, velocity, and veracity, can be adopted to empower the reduction of human labor and improve the productivity, quality, and efficiency of these tasks. Therefore, this paper aims to address these issues by implementing deep learning to classify coffee bean quality in real time by integrating the system with a cloud-based solution. First, image processing and data augmentation techniques are employed to handle the coffee bean image data. Subsequently, the model is trained using YOLOv8, a framework for object recognition, and OpenCV, an open-source image processing technology, to classify coffee beans. Finally, an application is developed for real-time video and image-streaming coffee bean recognition using React Native, NodeJS, and Python. The experimental results provide empirical evidence that our system enhances accuracy and efficiency in the tasks of classifying coffee bean quality in nine distinct varieties of coffee beans, with the time required reduced to a mere 1 to 3 seconds. Our system can be a useful solution for coffee producers, processors, and traders without relying on stationary equipment, especially in large farms or warehouses.