Logeye: Internal quality sorting at Vaara
The Veljekset Vaara Oy sawmill in Tervola is part of the family-owned Vaara Group and specializes in exterior cladding panels and non-settling CLT logs. The company processes more than 200,000 cubic meters of logs per year, resulting in an annual output of around 100,000 cubic meters of sawn timber. In recent years, Vaara has increased the production capacity of their sawmill, and as part of these investments, they have installed a Logeye scanner with X-ray capabilities.
The Logeye multi-sensor quality scanner combines laser modules, color cameras, and X-ray sensors to deliver accurate log measurements and quality data. One of the major differences compared to the previous measurement is that the Logeye provides both overbark and underbark dimensions. While the overbark measurement is used for payment grading, the underbark measurement is used for internal quality sorting.
Logs are sorted according to Vaara’s own criteria, ensuring that each log is directed to the most suitable downstream process, such as the planer mill or the finger-jointing line. Because the difference between overbark and underbark dimensions can be significant, sorting logs based on underbark data at an early stage reduces variability later in the process. This allows for tighter sawing settings and helps minimize material waste.
Accurate underbark measurement is made possible by the integration of the MiCROTEC AI platform, which has been trained on real CT Log data. Using this highly accurate ground truth enables the Logeye to detect underbark dimensions more reliably than conventional log scanners.
This investment has allowed Vaara to increase the speed of the line as well as overall productivity and represents a major technological leap for Vaara. “Overall, this investment has brought us from partly the 90’s and early 2000’s to the 2020’s, so both in terms of conveyors and scanner it has been a huge leap forward,” summarizes Jukka Vaara, CEO of Vaara, commenting on the project.
