In Latvia, large volumes of timber are being measured every year. Most of the measurements are conducted with the help of automated measuring lines, but the processes also require manual measurements, for example, made before the log transportation stage, etc. Since Timbeter is meant to replace and optimize the manual measurement process, it has become a subject of a research that aims to determine the accuracy of Timbeter’s digital measurements for both individual and stacked logs. The research is a part of a Bachelor thesis written by Elvis Ķepītis, a student of the Latvian University of Agriculture, Faculty of Forestry, Department of Forest Utilization.
A total of 17 stacks were measured. All manual measurements were conducted in accordance with the Latvian state standard (LVS 82: 2020 “Round timber measurement”). Timbeter solution was used for measuring the diameters and volumes of individual logs by the means of “Diameter” measurement regime (corresponds to the log-by-log method).
As for the individual logs, a total of 40 (thin end diameter range from 13.8 cm to 49.2 cm; coniferous, mostly spruce) were measured during the research. Each log was measured twice – both manually, in accordance with the above-mentioned standard, and with Timbeter.
The comparative analysis of manual and digital timber volume measurement results has shown a deviation of -2.46% (0.006 m3) on average for Timbeter respectively. The analysis also indicates, at the 95% reliability level, no drastic difference in the average volume determined by Timbeter compared to the results achieved by the manual measurements. This is also illustrated in the image below.
The deviation is very minor being – 1.72% (0.222 m3) for Timbeter’s measurement results compared to the manual ones. According to LVS 82:2020, “Round timber measurement”, the allowed deviation for a 12,912m3 log is 4.47%. At the stage of analysing individual diameters, the deviation of Timbeter’s measurement results tended to decrease as the diameters of the logs of the same length were increasing.
Summing up, the research proves Timbeter measurements as eligible and highly accurate in accordance to Latvian state standard for 10m3+ timber stacks measurements.
