Computer vision-based size estimation module for selective harvesting of lettuce

Abstract

Selective harvesting of leafy vegetables remains a major challenge in agricultural automation, particularly for lettuce that meet predefined size or maturity criteria. Vision-based perception systems play a critical role in enabling selective harvesting by identifying plants that meet predefined size or maturity criteria. This study presents the development and validation of computer vision-based size estimation software designed to support selective harvesting decisions in leafy vegetable production. A C #-based image processing application was developed to perform red, green and blue (RGB) colour segmentation, contour detection and pixel-to-metric size estimation using images acquired from a standard Universal Serial Bus (USB) webcam. The system converts pixel measurements into real-world dimensions through calibrated scaling factors that account for variations in camera-to-plant distance. Field experiments were conducted using three commercial lettuce cultivars Romaine, Iceberg and Curly. Vision-based canopy width measurements showed strong agreement with manual measurements (N = 60) and exhibited very strong correlations with plant weight (Romaine type: r = 0.9803; Iceberg type: r = 0.9935; Curly type: r = 0.9707; p < 0.001). Linear regression models achieved high predictive performance (R² = 0.942–0.987), while error metrics indicated low prediction errors (Mean absolute error (MAE): 5.62–8.64 g; root mean square error (RMSE): 7.30–11.06 g). Bland-Altman analysis further confirmed strong agreement between vision-based estimates and manual measurements. This study primarily validates a lightweight vision-based measurement algorithm intended for future integration into robotic harvesting systems. The results demonstrate that simple RGB-based image processing can provide reliable size estimation for selective harvesting decisions in leafy vegetable production systems.