Tsybukh A. Laser technology of sorting sheep by wool color during herd formation

The dissertation is devoted to the solution of the scientific problem of development of a non-invasive method of remote determination of sheep wool color by application of semiconductor laser radiation sources with radiation wavelength of 405, 532, 650, 780 nm. The problem is related to the lack of objectivity in determining the color of sheep's wool, which leads to significant financial losses in the production of wool in the sheep industry. The analysis of the application of optical technologies based on the use of laser radiation carried out in the work revealed their high efficiency in a number of technological processes. In addition, it turned out that nowadays the determination of the color of sheep wool (white, gray) and especially in the determination of halftones, which is attributable to melanin pigmentation, occurs due to the subjective assessment of the operator. The paper proposes a method for determining the color of wool through the use of diffuse reflection of monochromatic coherent radiation with different wavelengths. Based on theoretical studies of the conditions of reflection of optical radiation from the surface of the wool, the parameters of the spectrographic method using a laser source are substantiated. The efficiency of diffuse beam scattering from the surface and the expediency of its application in determining its color are proved on the basis of mathematical modeling of the components of the reflected light flux from the wool. The main sources of errors that occur at individual stages of the transformation of the reflected beam during its registration and their impact on the total error of color measurement are identified, which made it possible to obtain a ratio for estimating measurement errors even at relatively low signal-to-noise ratio. The design of a device for remote determination of the level of melanin pigmentation, which correlates with the color of sheep wool, which was used in the current sample of an automated platform for sorting sheep by wool color in the process of forming a flock of sheep during breeding. The efficiency of the proposed technical means for the implementation of laser technology for sorting sheep by wool color is confirmed by technical and economic calculations, namely the level of profitability of wool production increases to 12%, and the level of return on additional capital investment does not exceed 2 years.