Transporte frigorífico internacional de fruta: intermodalidad y sistemas de transporte inteligente

n el año 2001 la UE presentó el Libro Blanco del Transporte en el que se plantea la necesidad acuciante de fomentar los medios de transporte alternativos al transporte por carretera: transporte marítimo, ferroviario y fluvial, especialmente de cara a la ampliación europea. En este artículo se revisan los conceptos de Intermodalidad y Sistemas de Transporte Inteligentes tal y como los define la UE. Se presentan también los resultados de un seguimiento de transporte marítimo intercontinental llevado a cabo por investigadores australianos de cara a cuantificar el grado de cumplimiento de las especificaciones del transporte frigorífico de frutas frescas. Se apuntan también las necesidades expresadas por las empresas tecnológicas relacionadas con el transporte y las líneas de investigación actuales del LPF en este sentid

Wireless networks study for real-time fruit logistics monitoring

Progress in fruit logistics requires an increasing number of measurements to be performed in refrigerated chambers and during transport. Wireless sensor networks are a promising solution in this field. This paper explores the potential of this technology for monitoring fruit storage and transport conditions. It focuses in particular on ZigBee technology with special regard to two different commercial modules (Xbow and Xbee). The main contributions of the paper relate to the analysis of battery life under cooling conditions and the evaluation of the reliability of communications and measurements

CAN-based monitoring in refrigerated transports

Perishable food products such as vegetables, fruit, meat or fish require refrígerated transports. Effective cold management is fundamental for maintaining the quality of these products along the supply chain. The use of standardized CAN technology improves monitoring transports ensurlng the inter-operability of the system. A variety of sensors and actuators can be integrated in the CAN. Information provided by sensors is exchanged; alarms are thggered in case of anomaly data. Also devices for fleet management, tachograph and satellite Communications may be a part of complete system. Technologies such as Wireless Sensor Networks or Radio Frequency Identification may be implemented in an on-line monitoring environment in the future. Thus, the challenge is interconnecting these heterogeneous systems and harmonlzation of the different interfaces

Modeling Psychrometric Data in Real-Time Fruit Logistics Monitoring

Progress in fruit logistics requires an increasing number of measurements to be performed in refrigerated chambers and during transport. Fruits and vegetables are submitted to a variety of risks during transport and storage that are responsible for material quality losses. Among them water loss and condensation are causes of deterioration that reduces the marketability of fresh fruits and vegetables. Wireless sensor networks (WSN) are a promising solution in monitoring food logistics. Instrumented with sensors, such as temperature and humidity, this technology allows on-line supply chain monitoring of perishable food products. Psychrometry studies the thermodynamic properties of moist air and the use of these properties to analyze conditions and processes involving moist air. Using the information provided by the sensors, psychrometric equations can be used for quick assessment of changes in the absolute water content of air, allowing estimation of future water loss and detection of condensation. In this paper the psychrometric data from ASABE (American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers) has been applied, for modeling evaporation and condensation of water related with regard to product in a refrigerated chamber. The experiments were conducted in a commercial wholesaler store in the fruit and vegetables wholesalers market of Madrid. Two different types of IEEE 802.15.4/ ZigBee motes have been used

Monitorización de Transportes frigoríficos de hortalizas mediante Redes Inalámbricas de Sensores tipo ZigBee

Los productos alimentarios perecederos tales como hortalizas, frutas, carne o pescado requieren transporte refrigerado. El control de la calidad y supervisión de los productos durante su transporte y distribución es de gran importancia para los operadores logísticos, donde el mayor reto es asegurar una cadena de frio continua desde el productor hasta el consumidor. Las empresas involucradas necesitan mejores métodos que garanticen la calidad de sus productos de cara a los consumidores. Para optimizar las condiciones de transporte de los productos alimentarios es necesario desarrollar sistemas automáticos de monitorización y control de los envíos. El presente artículo presenta un estudio experimental de monitorización de un transporte frigorífico de lechugas Little Gem (Lechuga baby o cogollo) desde Murcia hasta Francia, usando una red inalámbrica de sensores basada en el protocolo ZigBee/IEEE 802.15.4. La red estaba compuesta de cuatro nodos y una puerta de enlace. Las condiciones de transporte, fiabilidad de las comunicaciones y propiedades psicrométricas han sido analizadas. La aplicación del modelo psicrométrico de la ASABE permitió la detección inmediata de los cambios en contenido del agua del ambiente, estimando la condensación sobre la superficie del producto y las pérdidas de agua del mismo

Supervisión del Transporte Mediante Sistema de Comunicación CANbus.

El presente articulo pretende fijar y determinar de modo preciso las características que debe tener y los requerimientos que debe cumplir una ECU que supervise el transporte de frutas y hortalizas en contenedores de transporte internacional

Development of Smart Sensing Devices for Ubiquitous Supervision Of The Cold Chain: Application To Perishable Commodities

Wireless sensing technologies allow continuous monitoring of physical parameters that influence the preservation of fruit and vegetables in cold storage, while the smart sensor concept refers to the incorporation of improved prediction capabilities on standard low cost transducers as to enhance quality assurance of stored commodities while reducing in the amount of data to be transmitted. Previous experience of the authors has shown the feasibility of predicting battery shortage due to its effects on measurement oscillations, door opening by means of the instantaneous gradient in temperature and relative humidity, and water loss and condensation on the cargo. In this work, measurements in 3 commercial cold chambers with a variety of horticultural products have been performed, using up to 7 wireless motes from two different manufacturers. The ASABE psychrometric model is used as a base for smart capabilities such as energy consumption estimation is implemented as related to the increase on air enthalpy based on a single Temperature-Relative Humidity sensor. The low cost characteristics of such device encourage the ubiquitous location in the commodities and even the diagnosis of working faults of valves in refrigeration system

Prospectives of monitoring biological activity in a red-legged partridge incubator with a carbon dioxide probe

This study focuses on the relationship between CO2 production and the ultimate hatchability of the incubation. A total amount of 43316 eggs of red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa) were supervised during five actual incubations: three in 2012 and two in 2013. The CO2 concentration inside the incubator was monitored over a 20-day period, showing sigmoidal growth from ambient level (428 ppm) up to 1700 ppm in the incubation with the highest hatchability. Two sigmoid growth models (logistic and Gompertz) were used to describe the CO2 production by the eggs, with the result that the logistic model was a slightly better fit (r2=0.976 compared to r2=0.9746 for Gompertz). A coefficient of determination of 0.997 between the final CO2 estimation (ppm) using the logistic model and hatchability (%) was found

Review. Monitoring the intermodal, refrigerated transport of fruit using sensor networks

Most of the fruit in Europe is transported by road, but the saturation of the major arteries, the increased demand for freight transport, and environmental concerns all indicate there is a need to change this means of transport. A combination of transport modes using universal containers is one of the solutions proposed: this is known as intermodal transport. Tracking the transport of fruit in reefer containers along the supply chain is the means by which product quality can be guaranteed. The integration of emerging information technologies can now provide real-time status updates. This paper reviews the literature and the latest technologies in this area as part of a national project. Particular emphasis is placed on multiplexed digital communication technologies and wireless sensor networks

Multidistributed monitoring system for international fruit transport

[SPA] La supervisión de los transportes de productos perecederos es fundamental para garantizar su calidad de cara al consumidor. A lo largo del transporte estos productos están sometidos a un riesgo de pérdida de valor comercial, que se relaciona con descontroles en el tiempo, la temperatura, la humedad y los procesos de avance hacia la senescencia y el desarrollo de podredumbres. Actualmente, las soluciones comerciales disponibles en el mercado no proporcionan información completa sobre la variabilidad de las condiciones a que se ve sometida la carga, debido a que las medidas se realizan en un punto, o en un número muy limitado de ellos. Existen sensores susceptibles de ser montados de forma multidistribuida en contenedores de transporte internacional. La información aportada por los sensores puede ser empleada en tiempo real por otros dispositivos de control electrónico, como el que gestiona el equipo de frío. Los avances técnicos en redes de comunicación digital permiten monitorizar las unidades de transporte en tiempo real, de forma individual. Nuestro equipo investigador ha abordado el trabajo experimental desde varios puntos de vista: evaluación de tecnologías sensoras para la determinación de compuestos volátiles, caracterización térmica de los contenedores de transporte intermodal, análisis del comportamiento termodinámico de los equipos de frio, y actualmente se están realizando pruebas para implementar una red inalámbrica de sensores en el interior de un contenedor frigorífico. A partir de los resultados de estos ensayos se han definido los componentes y especificaciones del sistema que se presenta en esta comunicación. [ENG] Monitoring perishable goods transports is fundamental in order to guarantee their quality for consumers. Fruits & vegetables suffer different risks along their transport along the supply chain, so that material and quality losses occur. This risk is related to lack of appropriate monitoring and control of time, temperature and humidity, and causes senescence and rots. Commercial solutions available in the market usually do not provide complete information about the conditions during the transport, because they measure in just one point or in few points. The integration of emergent information technologies can provide real-time status updates. This paper presents a multidistributed monitoring system for refrigerated transports integrating various emergent technologies. Also it defines the specifications and the components of the system gathering different sensors and electronic modules.Este trabajo ha sido posible gracias a la financiación del Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia a través del proyecto de investigación SENSOFRIGO y al apoyo de la Comunidad de Madrid a través de TAGRALIA