The WoodEye Hardwood Grader was one of the winners of the Challengers Award competition at the IWF 2008 show. 

"We are very proud to have been appointed winners among 125 entries," said Claus Staalner, President of WoodEye Inc. in Atlanta. "Our development team in Sweden has done a great job with the new product and the possibility to machine grade hardwood will have a great impact in the market." 

The WoodEye Hardwood Grader  is the world’s first production ready wood scanner for hardwood that makes it possible to automate the lumber grading process. All grading steps are implemented and also presented for each grade tested up until the final grade. 

The grades used are defined entirely in the program. This makes it possible to create any type of grade, for example, a straight NHLA Grade like FAS, Select, etc. or one could set up FAS on the grading face and #1 Common or others, on the other face. In addition, the user may set proprietary grades particular to customers. All grades may run simultaneously or separately, a situation not possible today with a human grader in place. Boards from 3" to 18" in width can be handled in the same batch of wood and the scanner typically communicates with a PLC and/or a printer.

The scanner uses several high resolution cameras and detection methodologies to identify objects of many kinds, such as (but not limited to) knots, cracks, checks, wane as well as colorations. Additionally, detailed statistics are kept on each board making the scanner an invaluable aid in possible dispute resolutions.