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X Float · Edge-vision instrument

Froth analysis that works on white froth

Scheelite froth comes up a washed-out grey with almost no colour to read. X Float measures the froth’s physical structure and its depth in 3D, so it keeps a signal where colour-only cameras lose one. It mounts on the launder and writes to a Modbus register your PLC already polls.

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The white-froth problem

Why colour cameras go blind on white froth

Most froth cameras read colour. On a dark, mineral-rich sulphide froth that works well, because colour tracks grade. Scheelite froth is different. It comes up a pale, washed-out grey, and the colour differences an RGB camera depends on are barely there. The picture goes flat to the camera long before it looks flat to the operator.

X Float measures the froth’s physical structure instead: bubble size and how it is distributed across the launder, how fast the froth travels, how long it holds before it collapses, its texture, and its true depth from stereo vision. Colour is one input among more than a dozen, and it carries the least weight on grey froth. The measurement holds where a colour-led system fades out.

That is what a metallurgist sees first on a tungsten circuit, and it is the one claim worth checking against your own froth.

40001 · What it measures

More than a dozen measurements, every frame

Each one is written to a Modbus holding register, continuously. The control system reads them like any other instrument.

Bubble size (d32)
Sauter mean, size percentiles, and the spread across the launder.
Froth velocity
Surface speed and direction, cell by cell.
Stability
How long the froth holds before it collapses.
Texture
The coarseness and structure of the surface.
Stereo depth
True 3D froth structure from two fields of view, not a flat image.
Colour
One input among many, weighted low on grey froth.
Process state
The froth classified into the operating regimes the metallurgist already names.
Dosing guidance
Site-calibrated reagent guidance, offered as advice for the operator to act on.

cam → edge → 40001 → plc

How the number reaches your control room

  1. 1 cam · FIELD OF VIEW

    Camera

    A fixed camera looks down at the froth on the cell. No sampling rig, and no shutdown to install it.

  2. 2 edge · INFERENCE

    On-device inference

    The froth is measured on the device, at the plant. Classical computer vision does the measuring; machine learning is added only for higher-order pattern work, never as a black box.

  3. 3 40001 · WRITE

    Modbus registers

    More than a dozen froth measurements are written to Modbus TCP holding registers, frame by frame.

  4. 4 plc · READ

    Your PLC / DCS

    The control system reads another register and decides. X Float behaves like a level transmitter it already knows.

No server. No cloud. No GPU rack.

Datasheet

What a controls engineer needs to scope it

Measures Over a dozen physical froth characteristics, plus process state
Output Modbus TCP holding registers (4–20 mA optional)
Vision Stereo depth with classical computer vision; ML for higher-order tasks only
Compute On-device at the edge, no cloud and no GPU rack
Network Power and a network drop; offline-capable, nothing leaves site
Mounting Self-contained camera, fixed over the launder
Install Minutes to mount, hours to commission, no process shutdown
Relocation Moves to another cell easily; no routine maintenance

Running in the field

In continuous operation on a scheelite circuit

X Float runs on a scheelite flotation circuit in continuous operation, feeding a live control room. It behaves like a level transmitter the PLC already reads, so the metallurgist gets froth numbers without a new system to learn.

Questions

Common questions

What does X Float measure?
The froth on a flotation cell, turned into continuous numbers: bubble-size distribution, velocity, stability, texture, stereo depth, colour, and classified process state. More than a dozen physical characteristics, written to Modbus registers every frame.
Does it work on white or grey froth?
Yes. Scheelite froth comes up a washed-out grey with little colour to read, which is where colour-led cameras lose contrast. X Float measures physical structure and stereo depth, so it keeps a signal on pale froth.
Does X Float use AI?
Its core is classical computer vision: physical measurements taken straight from the image and from stereo depth. Machine learning is added only for higher-order tasks such as site-calibrated correlation, not as a black box.
Does it predict grade?
It reports froth metrics and process state directly. Where a site has been calibrated, it can correlate those to grade. Grade is a site-calibrated correlation, not a promised live output.
Does it need cloud connectivity?
No. Inference runs on the device, on-premises. X Float is offline-capable and nothing leaves site.
How is it installed?
It is a self-contained camera that mounts over the launder in minutes and commissions in hours, with no process shutdown. It moves to another cell just as easily and needs no routine maintenance.

Put an instrument on your hardest measurement.

Tell us the surface you can only judge by eye. We will show you the register it becomes.

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X Foam The same camera-to-register path, on process and water tanks.