Patent ID: 8738176

Claim:
A log rotation system comprising: a conveyor configured to convey a log in a first direction, wherein the conveyor comprises a sharp chain configured to impale the log at one or more points along a substantially longitudinal axis of the log and to convey the log in the first direction along the longitudinal axis; one or more log positioning mechanisms configured to controllably rotate and/or position the log for placement of the log onto the conveyor; and a log position optimizer configured to identify, based on a scan of the log, one or more rest positions for the log on the conveyor, wherein the log position optimizer is configured to identify a rest position for the log through identification of first and second contact points on the log where the sharp chain can impale the log that are associated with the rest position, select a preferred rest position from among the one or more rest positions for the log, based at least in part on one or more determinations of stability of the one or more rest positions, and control the one or more log positioning mechanisms to position the log in the preferred rest position on the conveyor.