Fake fruit sensors measure shipment temperatures
Although fruit is inspected regularly in transit, some of it is damaged or may even perish during the journey. This is because monitoring still has significant scope for improvement. Although sensors measure the air temperature in the freight container, it is the core temperature of the individual fruit that is decisive for the quality of the fruit. However up to now, it has only been possible to measure this "invasively", i.e. by inserting a sensor through the skin and into the centre.
In order to guarantee and monitor the temperature within the fruit, researchers at Empa have now developed an artificial fruit sensor. It is the same shape and size as the relevant fruit and also simulates its composition, and can be packed in with the real fruit and travel with it. On arrival at the destination, the data from the sensor can be analysed relatively quickly and easily. From this, the researchers hope to gain information about the temperature during transportation.
source: phys.org
