Where do I use Marvel in my facility? 

Marvel was designed to be used on bucked, dried, and trimmed flower, so it is best to use it at this point in your post-harvest process. However, it can be used at nearly any stage once the flower has been removed from the stalk. Some producers will run Marvel directly after dry trimming with their T-Zero, while others run it after curing and just prior to shipping to large contract buyers for a final check. Every scenario is unique, but the ideal location is typically just prior to packaging to ensure every individual flower meets your standard for entering a bag. 

Where to physically operate Marvel will depend on your facilities’ processes and level of automation. In most cases, Marvel is placed in a convenient location and then fed cannabis using conveyors or hoppers. The output is typically fed onto additional conveyors or deposited into totes for batch processing. 

How large is Marvel?

Marvel is 40” wide X 80” long X 60” tall, it weighs 750 lbs, and rides on 4 casters.

Can Marvel grade for more than 1 criterion at a time? 

Yes, Marvel can grade for as many criteria as you can imagine. For example, it can be set up to grade flower for long stems, long leaves, infections, and undersized buds all in a single run.

Can the criteria sensitivity be adjusted?

Yes, the operator can specify the sensitivity for each criterion being analyzed – this is referred to as a class within Marvel. Most criteria have classes from Class 0 to Class 4, and they progressively get more offensive as the class number increases. For example, a stem length of Class 0 means that the stem has been cut clean to the bottom of the bud, while a stem length of Class 4 would be quite long. To further illustrate, let’s say we have a batch of flower to run through Marvel and have it remove all the flower that had a stem longer than 15% of the overall flower size. To do this, we’d create a condition on Marvel’s interface that grades for the stem criteria, then we’d select the correct class for a stem that is 15% of the size of the flower and run the batch.

Some criteria, infections for example, are limited to just 2 classes, Class 0 and Class 1, as the infection is either present or it isn’t.

The ability to specify conditions for each criterion, combinations of criteria, and classes for each criteria allow users endless different grading schemes. This gives complete customization of your grading needs and specifications. Marvel could be programmed to pass large flowers with short stems, short leaves, and no crow’s feet, and fail flowers with long stems and long leaves regardless of the size, as well as anything that is moldy.

What criteria are most recommended to grade for?

Marvel is often setup to reject flowers that have long stems, long leaves, a high concentration of leaves, long crow’s feet, and infections, as these defects quickly identify the batch as lower value.

Does Marvel come pre-programmed with configurations.

Yes, Marvel will come pre-programmed with the most common configurations. However, Keirton’s AI engineers will work with you and your team to develop customized configurations to suit your needs, strains, and seasonal growing conditions. Already have a standard that you use? Great! Share it with us and we can program Marvel to mimic that same standard.

Where else is similar technology used?

Automated grading and sorting machines have been used for years in many other industries, including the agriculture and food sectors. In recent year, optical sorters have been used extensively for sorting nuts, fruits and vegetables.

How is Marvel different than current optical sorters used for sorting nuts, berries, and other foods?

Marvel is unlike various optical sorters you may have seen for agricultural and food sorting. These devices typically sort on color alone, and often only look at one side of the object. They use simple logic statements based on the change in wavelength of light reflected off the object to determine whether it is good or bad. Marvel, on the other hand, uses artificial intelligence. The intelligence is trained through massive libraries of data and makes decisions based on a complex matrix of variables to classify cannabis flowers. This allows Marvel to be trained on virtually anything that is visible and falls through into its inspection zone. Optical sorters you find elsewhere simply don’t compare.

Can Marvel be used to sort flower by size?

Yes! Marvel can be used to grade and sort by any single criteria above, including size. During the configuration process, Marvel will be setup to only look at the size criteria. Then, the specific size that you want to grade for will be setup by adjusting the class. As an example, the user can setup Marvel to pass everything except flowers that are under ½” in size.

Can Marvel detect foreign material? 

Yes! Marvel can be trained to detect inorganic foreign material – including pieces of gloves, trellis and even earplugs – as well as organic foreign material – including bugs, bug casings, seeds and perlite.

Can Marvel detect mold?

Yes! External mold is often easy to spot as the color and texture of mold is distinguishable from cannabis flower.

Can Marvel detect internal mold? 

No, currently Marvel can only detect external, visible defects. However, there are often tell-tale signs that mold exists inside of the flower through discolorations around the stem that Marvel can identify.

Will Marvel be able to detect internal mold in the future?

Yes! Our AI team is constantly improving Marvel and the ability to see beyond the surface of the flower is being developed.

Can marvel detect the difference between cultivars?

Yes, provided that the cannabis specific criteria that Marvel can identify show differences between those cultivars. For example, if two cultivars looked similar overall but had different cannabinoid content or terpene profiles then Marvel would not be able to distinguish between the two. However, if one had low density, significant fox tailing or darker green, it would be distinguishable.

What else can Marvel identify? 

Marvel can be programmed to identify anything visible from the outside of the flower. Marvel can also detect light green, undeveloped flower; dead and burned yellow leaves; white flower from too much light; and even a lack of purple if that is what you’re expecting from your conditions.

Can Marvel be used to grade without sorting?

Yes, Marvel was designed as a dual-purpose machine – it can be used strictly to grade flower, as well as grade and then sort flower.

Why Would Marvel be used to grade only?

The most common reason to use Marvel to only grade flower would be to support bulk flower sales. Marvel provides accurate and quantifiable data for every single flower in a batch, giving both the buyer and the seller a good understanding of the overall quality of the flower. This data helps define pricing of the batch and prevents a buyer from being oversold. The grading report provide comprehensive distribution of flowers at various state of each criterion. As an example, all the size and stem length data is collected and plotted so you can quickly see the percentage of the flower that is under ½”, over 1”, and how many flowers are long stem, medium stem or without stem, and many combinations in between. The same is true for each of the other criteria that has been selected to grade for. This data is collected into a report that can be attached to each batch.

What information is contained in Marvel’s grading reports? 

Marvel’s grading report includes the following information for each run: 

• The total elapsed time
• The total number of flowers processed
• The percentage of the flowers that were rejected
• The top 4 violating criteria
• The distribution of flower size
• The distribution of classes for each criteria.

How long does it take for Marvel to process a single flower?

It takes less than 50 milliseconds from the time that a flower waterfalls over the edge of the conveyor until it has been graded and sorted.

What is the processing capacity of Marvel? 

Marvel’s operating capacity is up to 70 lbs/hr for grading and sorting, increasing to over 100 lbs/hr for grading only.

What is the processing capacity of most quality control technicians that do a similar task? 

A person can grade and sort upwards of 1 flower/sec for a prolonged period. This translates to 5 lbs/hr when looking at average flower sizes for most producers.

How much faster can Marvel grade and sort than quality control technicians? 

Marvel can grade and sort up to 14 times faster than a typical person.

How accurate is Marvel at grading and sorting cannabis? 

Marvel has proven to be up to 95% accurate at grading and sorting cannabis at 70 lbs/hr. However, on average across all the criteria the accuracy is above 80%. Additionally, the AI is constantly learning and improving; as customers use Marvel more, its accuracy increases.

How accurate are quality control technicians at grading and sorting cannabis? 

The best quality control technicians can typically grade with 75-90% accuracy at 5 lbs/hr.

How many people are required to operate Marvel? 

With a steady stream of flower feeding and accepting flower, Marvel would require a maximum of 3 people to operate – 1 person doing a double check on the passes, 1 person doing a double check on the fails, and 1 person doing the setup and overall supervision of the process. Assuming a capacity of 70lbs/hr, Marvel would reduce the labor load from 14 people down to 3.

Does Marvel completely replace people for visual inspection? 

No. Marvel is highly accurate and does the bulk of the work, but we recommend including a second set of eyes to ensure that nothing obvious is missed.

What can Marvel do that Quality Control Technicians can’t? 

Marvel can inspect both sides of every flower, consistently, for as long as it’s in operation, while most people can only maintain a focused attention span for 15-30 minutes. Marvel can also inspect for several criteria and sort based on combinations of their states at the same time. Lastly, Marvel produces instant, quantifiable data on all flower that it encounters – a task that would add hours to the process with a team of people.

What can’t Marvel do that Quality Control Technicians can?

People sometimes identify obvious, egregious defects easier than AI can. This can give us the false impression that because it missed an obvious defect that AI isn’t as accurate as people. Their argument is that they would have identified the defect. Our recommended Marvel implementation process includes 1-2 quality control technicians monitoring the outputs to identify any possible egregious defects that Marvel may have missed.

What are the primary features of Marvel? 

The primary features of Marvel are: 

• It uses advanced AI algorithms to grade cannabis criteria
• It sorts graded cannabis according to specific criteria
• It has a dry flower capacity of up to 100lbs/hr for grading, and 70lbs/hr for grading and sorting
• It has accuracy of up to 95%
• It produces comprehensive reports from grading analysis
• It has user-friendly operation
• Each criteria have adjustable sensitivity levels
• The criteria can be combined to create conditions based on your preferences, genetics and seasonal impacts.

What are the primary benefits of Marvel? 

The primary features of Marvel are: 

• Marvel improves your brand reputation by preventing low quality flower from reaching the hands of your customers
• Marvel reduces high labor costs by grading and sorting flower at rates equivalent to 10 people, all day every day
• Marvel validates bulk flower sales by producing an accurate analysis of every flower in the entire lot
• Marvel produces consistent results by eliminating the quality drifts throughout the day, and from person to person
• Marvel reduces costly recalls by detecting visible mold and powdery mildew, preventing these defects from reaching your packaging lines.

Is Marvel GMP compliant? 

Yes! Marvel complies with GMP – qualification and validation documents are available upon request.

How is Marvel cleaned and how long does it take? 

Marvel is best cleaned by first blowing any cannabis remains off all surfaces with compressed air, followed by wiping it down with clean towels and isopropyl alcohol. It typically takes a single person 1 hour to conduct a deep, thorough clean on Marvel.

Can Marvel guarantee that no bad flower reaches my customer? 

No, Marvel cannot guarantee that no bad flower reaches your customer. Even if Marvel was 99.99999999999999999999999999999999% accurate, there would still be the possibility that bad flower makes it to your customer through outside influences within your process and from reaching its destination.

What guarantees can marvel make? 

Marvel will grade and sort your flower with 80% accuracy at 70 lbs/hr, for the life of your service agreement, or we’ll take it back.

What is Marvel’s Value Proposition? 

Marvel improves the grading and sorting of cannabis with higher speed, accuracy, and consistency. This reduces cost, improves reputation, and delivers a more valuable product your customers will love.

How much does Marvel cost? 

Marvel will cost the equivalent of 2 – 6 quality control technicians, depending on the criteria employed and the level of support required, through several pricing structures. The criteria are implemented in bundles and can be turned on or off at any time as needed.

What is the pricing structure for Marvel?  

Marvel’s AI is operated on a monthly subscription-based service contract, plus a purchase price for customers looking to buy the equipment, or an initiation fee for customers choosing to lease or lease-to-own the equipment. For example, a customer choosing to lease Marvel for 2 years will pay an initiation fee, plus a monthly service fee.

Is financing available? 

Yes! Financing is available OAC for customers choosing to purchase Marvel. Contact us for details around financing.

Where can I see Marvel in action? 

We showcase Marvel at many tradeshows, conduct live virtual demos, live in-person demos at our HQ in Vancouver, British Columbia, and can even arrange to have Marvel onsite at qualified facilities.

What is included in the service contract? 

Included in service contract is the installation, commissioning, training, unlimited operation, 12/7 support, software and hardware updates, and regular servicing and onsite optimization sessions over the life of the contract.

Does Marvel require replacement parts? 

Yes, after 1 year it is suggested to replace the conveyor belts. Under normal operating conditions no other parts on Marvel would need to be replaced.

What maintenance is required? 

There will be servicing required on the conveyor belts, bearings, and air valves.

What is the warranty period? 

The warranty period lasts for the life of the contract and applies to manufacturer’s defects.

What is the lead time for a Marvel machine? 

The lead time can vary anywhere from 1-4 months. Contact us for the latest information on Marvel lead times.

How long does it take to install and commission Marvel? 

Installation and commissioning are often completed within a few days.

How long does it take to train staff on how to operate Marvel? 

Onsite training is typically completed within 5 business days, with remote training sessions as needed. The time for training can vary depending on number of factors, including:  

• Aptitude of the staff
• Complexity of the configurations being developed
• Uniqueness of the genetics
• Integration with other equipment.

Will there be future versions of Marvel that will make the current version obsolete?

Yes and no. We are constantly conducting R&D and improving Marvel, so new versions will be available at some point in the future, but they will not make the current version obsolete.

What will be different with future versions? 

We will be releasing announcements on the future changes. Stay tuned!

Can I upgrade to a future version once I commit to a contract? 

Of course! All Marvel contracts will include options to upgrade the hardware and software.

How often is Marvel’s AI updated? 

Marvel’s AI is constantly being updated through expanded criteria libraries, software improvements, HMI features, and remote access. Expect new versions to be available 3-4 times per year.

Does Marvel log all images? 

Yes! Marvel logs and stores all images for each recorded lot or batch in the cloud and can be accessed through our Marvel Portal.

Does Marvel log all reports? 

Yes! Marvel ties reports to each batch in the cloud and can be accessed through our Marvel Portal.

Where is Marvel available? 

Marvel is available worldwide directly from Keirton. Contact us to discuss your specific location and application.

How can I learn more about Marvel? 

Contact us through our web form, email us a sales@keirton.com or call us 1-888-254-3204.