Patent ID: 7406190

Claim:
A method for tracking multiple pieces of wood, each piece of wood having multiple surfaces and at least an end surface, comprising: obtaining first inherent wood characteristic information from at least a first portion of at least a first surface and from at least a second portion of at least a second surface of each of the multiple pieces of wood as they move through a first station, the multiple pieces of wood including a first piece of wood, and the first portion including a first area that is at least one foot away from the end surface; converting at least some of the first inherent wood characteristic information concerning the first and second portions for each of the multiple pieces of wood into respective first data packets; obtaining second inherent wood characteristic information from only either one of the first or second surfaces of each of the multiple pieces of wood, including the first piece of wood, as they move through a second station; converting at least some of the second inherent wood characteristic information for the multiple pieces of wood into respective second data packets; and comparing a second data packet to a first data packet of the first piece of wood to make a first evaluation of similarity between the first and second data packets.