Methods for detecting ash integrity of burning cigarette based on computer vision

To promote the consistency and comparability of the results in ash detection, the standardization of cigarette ash detection methods based on computer vision was studied, and the methods for determining ash color, ash crack rate, ash shrinking rate, char line width, and char line uniformity and their characterization were proposed. The effects of imaging timing, detection area, and imaging mode on the detection results were analyzed, and the repeatability and reproducibility of the proposed methods were evaluated through collaborative experiments. The results showed that: 1) The ash integrity of cigarette could be comprehensively evaluated by the indexes including ash color, ash crack rate, etc. 2) The image of the ash could be collected with single-sided imaging mode when the cigarette was smoldering, and the length of the ash column in the detection area should be longer than 25.0 mm. 3) Computer vision-based methods showed good repeatability and reproducibility in ash color, ash shrinking rate, and char line width detection. The repeatability in ash crack rate and char line uniformity detection was susceptible to sample variation. The computer vision-based detection methods could scientifically and accurately evaluate the ash integrity of cigarettes.