Assessing the dynamic behavior of wsn motes and rfid semi-passive tags for temperature monitoring.

A notorious advantage of wireless transmission is a significant reduction and simplification in wiring and harness. There are a lot of applications of wireless systems, but in many occasions sensor nodes require a specific housing to protect the electronics from hush environmental conditions. Nowadays the information is scarce and nonspecific on the dynamic behaviour of WSN and RFID. Therefore the purpose of this study is to evaluate the dynamic behaviour of the sensors. A series of trials were designed and performed covering temperature steps between cold room (5 °C), room temperature (23 °C) and heated environment (35 °C). As sensor nodes: three Crossbow motes, a surface mounted Nlaza module (with sensor Sensirion located on the motherboard), an aerial mounted Nlaza where the Sensirion sensor stayed at the end of a cable), and four tags RFID Turbo Tag (T700 model with and without housing), and 702-B (with and without housing). To assess the dynamic behaviour a first order response approach is used and fitted with dedicated optimization tools programmed in Matlab that allow extracting the time response (?) and corresponding determination coefficient (r2) with regard to experimental data. The shorter response time (20.9 s) is found for the uncoated T 700 tag which encapsulated version provides a significantly higher response (107.2 s). The highest ? corresponds to the Crossbow modules (144.4 s), followed by the surface mounted Nlaza module (288.1 s), while the module with aerial mounted sensor gives a response certainly close above to the T700 without coating (42.8 s). As a conclusion, the dynamic response of temperature sensors within wireless and RFID nodes is dramatically influenced by the way they are housed (to protect them from the environment) as well as by the heat released by the node electronics itself; its characterization is basic to allow monitoring of high rate temperature changes and to certify the cold chain. Besides the time to rise and to recover is significantly different being mostly higher for the latter than for the former

The counteractive effect of the sensor housing on the unit sensitivity across a series of dynamic temperature profiles.

The advantages of wireless sensing implemented on the cold chain of fresh products are well known. These sensor systems consist of a combination of delicate internal electronic circuitry enclosed in a special housing unit. Manufacturers however are presented with the challenge that the housing required to withstand the harsh environment in which the sensors are being used all too often take from the functionality of the sensor. Therefore the target of this study is to determine the dynamic behavior and the counteractive effects of the sensor housing on temperature recording accuracy in the wireless nodes of Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) semi-passive tags. Two kind of semi-passive Turbo Tags were used (T700 and T702-B), which consisted of sensors with and without a cover, and two kind of WSN nodes, IRIS (sensors Intersema and Sensirion soldered in the motherboard) and NLAZA (Sensirion in a cable and soldered to the motherboard). To recreate the temperature profiles the devices were rotated between a cold room(5 ºC) through a ambient room(23 ºC) to a heated environment (35ºC) and vice versa. Analysis revealed the differences between housing and no housing are 308.22s to 21.99s respectively in the step from 5 to 35 ºC. As is demonstrated in these experiments the influence of the housing significantly hinders sensor accuracy

Refrigerated Fruit Storage Monitoring Combining Two Different Wireless Sensing Technologies: RFID and WSN

Every day, millions of tons of temperature-sensitive goods are produced, transported, stored or distributed worldwide, thus making their temperature and humidity control essential. Quality control and monitoring of goods during the cold chain is an increasing concern for producers, suppliers, logistic decision makers and consumers. In this paper we present the results of a combination of RFID and WSN devices in a set of studies performed in three commercial wholesale chambers of 1848 m3 with different set points and products. Up to 90 semi-passive RFID temperature loggers were installed simultaneously together with seven motes, during one week in each chamber. 3D temperature mapping charts were obtained and also the psychrometric data model from ASABE was implemented for the calculation of enthalpy changes and the absolute water content of air. Thus thank to the feedback of data, between RFID and WSN it is possible to estimate energy consumption in the cold room, water loss from the products and detect any condensation over the stored commodities

Evaluation of Pallet Covers Performance for Produce Protection in Cold Chain Logistics for Chard, Cucumbers and Carrots

Cold chain disruption and refrigeration failures are common issues in the logistics of perishable food products. In these cases, the use of pallet covers should be very useful, delaying the increase of product temperatures inside the pallets until cooling conditions are restored. However, there are no studies about the performance of pallet covers in these types of situations, which could persist for hours. This paper evaluates the performance of three different types of cold chain covers versus having no cover for three different types of vegetables (chard, cucumbers, and carrots). A refrigeration failure during the cold chain was simulated. The three covers presented an improvement in temperature loss compared to the no-cover situation, with the average time for the temperature to increase from 4 to 10 °C with a cover being a range of 214 to 506 min, while for no cover, from 162 to 211 min. Relative humidity (RH) always presented improved preservation with a cover than with no cover, except for one case. The correlation between the thermal images and sensor temperatures was also studied

Global food security – Issues, challenges and technological solutions

Background: Food security is both a complex and challenging issue to resolve as it cannot be characterized or limited by geography nor defined by a single grouping, i.e., demography, education, geographic location or income. Currently, approximately one billion people (16% of global population) suffer from chronic hunger in a time when there is more than enough food to feed everyone on the planet. Therein lies the Food security challenge to implement an ability to deal with increasing food shortages, caused by a combination of waste and an ever expanding world population. At current levels prediction state that we must increase global food production by 70% on already over exploited finite infrastructures before 2050. Scope and approach: This review paper firstly introduces the concept of Food Security with an overview of its scale and depth in the context of the global food industry. It then highlights the main sources. The readership is then introduced to the key factors affecting food security and highlights the many national and international measures adopted to tackle the problem at both policy and technological level. Key findings and conclusions: Food experts indicate that no one single solution will provide a sustainable food security solution into the future. Collective stakeholder engagement will prove essential in bringing about the policy changes and investment reforms required to achieve a solution. Achieving truly sustainable global food security will require a holistic systems-based approach, built on a combination of policy and technological reform, which will utilize existing systems combined with state-of-the-art technologies, techniques and best practices some of which are outlined herein.European Commission Horizon 2020Science Foundation Irelan