Here's the commercial version.[1] This machine is sorting peas by color. Peas. Individual peas. Each individual pea is examined by cameras for size, color, and looking like a pea. Rejects are kicked into the reject hopper by an air jet. There are machines like this for most fruit. Typical throughput is a <i>ton per hour.</i> Most fruit and berries go through such machines today. That's why the fruit at the supermarket is so consistent.<p>The process looks like magic. Color-mixed items go in, and single-color items come out, on a line going so fast that no human can see what's happening. It's amazing to see computer vision systems that fast.<p>These machines work by putting the items on a conveyor belt, then dropping them on a much faster conveyor to spread them out. The fast conveyor goes past cameras, and at the end, launches the items into free flight for a few inches. While in flight, computer-controlled air jets knock out the rejects.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyGR6A5MWG0" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyGR6A5MWG0</a>