Definitely catching the eye of Ligna visitors were the bright blue doughnut-shaped timber scanners on the stand of Innovativ Vision.
The WoodEye machines, which resemble hospital medical scanners and start at €200,000, have been around since the mid-1980s, but the company has constantly developed the technology.
The flooring scanner checks timber colour using multi-spectral light analysis and also picks up on visual defects that could weaken the timber. Using a combination of cameras and lasers, the WoodEye also checks board dimensions and knot patterns.
“You can program to select boards that are knot-free or, for character flooring, material with more natural markings,” said sales director Stefan Nilsson.
The window and furniture variants of WoodEye, he added, enable the manufacturer to optimise timber use by selecting pieces for components so that any visual defects are on hidden surfaces in the finished product. They can also be used to analyse timber quality information so that suppliers can be compared.
