Evaluation location: New York, United States
MARViTECH Seed Analyzer Protocol
By: Daniel Meyers & Anthony Barraco (last updated: June 7, 2023)
Part 1: Loading the software.
1. Put on the MARViTech hat for maximum workflow efficiency.
2. Open Marvin software (Marvin 7.0.2).
3. Select the profile you want. Hemp_Test is recommended for general usage. Hemp_Test provides the following data:
• Main Seeds: number of seeds
• Weight (g)
• TGW (g): thousand seed weight in grams
• B-Stocking(%): percentage of things recognized as non-seed (including damaged/broken seed)
• øArea: mean area of seeds
• øWidth: mean width of seeds
• øLength: mean length of seeds
• Date
• Time
• Remark: an editable field for text comments
• øL/W Ratio: mean length/width ratio of seeds
• Formula 1: standard deviation of seed area
• Formula 2: standard deviation of seed length
• Formula 3: standard deviation of seed width
• Formula 5: average seed brightness (“average grey value”)
• Formula 6: standard deviation of seed brightness (“standard deviation of grey value”)
Note on “grey value” (from the manual):
During the measuring process, each pixel from each seed will be categorized in up to 8 customer configured ranges. We get up to 8 results, how many pixels with a brightness level of xx, yy, zz etc. The brightness level, (or grey value) goes from 0 (black) to 255 (bright white).
4. Select File > New to start collecting data for a new dataset. This should open a blank window with “Main Protocol: untitled” at the top.
5. Turn on the attached scale and tare the weigh dish.
Part 2: Data collection. In the “Main Protocol: untitled” window, for each sample:
1. Name the sample in the ID column.
2. Place seeds in analyzer tray, spread seeds out so that there is no significant clustering of seeds and close the drawer.
3. Click “Check” button to begin analysis. You should see a white light illuminate the inside of the machine if everything is working correctly. Many of the fields should auto-populate with data. After the white light, the machine will illuminate with colored lights in red, green, and blue sequence. When this is complete, a pop-up window “Save image as” will appear, prompting you to name the generated image & save it in the folder Documents > HempSeeds. As a best practice, create a new folder within this file for each sample set to save your images to for exporting later & so that your pictures all go to the same place. Close this window if you don’t want an image of the seeds or talk to Tony or Dan to help you create a new protocol without this step.
4. To get weight data:
1. Dump seeds from the tray into the weigh dish. The weigh dish should be positioned beneath the funnel that is attached to the machine. There is a catch on the drawer where the tray is lined up with the mouth of the funnel.
2. Click “Weigh” on the software. A new window with “manual input” should pop-up.
3. Backspace out values so the “new value:” field is blank.
4. Click “OK” on the “manual input” window.
5. Click the measure button on the scale. For the Sartorius scale this is the button that looks like a dogeared page in the lower right corner. This should close the pop-up window and auto-populate the remaining fields.
5. Click the “Next” button to proceed to the next sample and generate another row for data collection.
Part 3: Exporting data.
1. When you are finished collecting data, you can either save as an .mpr file (basically unopenable without the Marvin software) or export the data in the table by selecting File > Export. Name your file and select the file type as appropriate. Other “exports” (such as “Export all seed data” or “Export all source images”) will be very large files depending on the number of samples you have analyzed. Also, many of these files would be redundant as you already have an image saved for each sample & the raw seed data has already been analyzed within the table.
2. The computer that the seed analyzer is hooked up to WILL NOT be connected to the internet. Save files to a flash drive to get them off the computer and to not take up storage space on the computer. Remember to retrieve your image files if you did save them within the HempSeeds folder on the computer. Please delete any saved files from the computer after you have successfully gotten them off the computer and do not delete the file “.mpr” located in the HempSeeds folder, it is needed to run the Hemp_Test profile.