SING: free space SensING of grape moisture using RF shadowing
File(s)SING Accepted.pdf (10.71 MB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Altherwy, Youssef N
McCann, Julie A
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Convenient, non-obtrusive, low-cost, and accurate sensing of fruit moisture content is crucial for the scientific studies of Pomology and Viticulture and their associated agriculture. It can provide early indicators of yield estimation and crop health as well as providing data for food production and precision farming systems. With a focus on grapes, we introduce SING, a scheme that senses grape moisture content by utilizing RF signals but without physical contact with the fruit. In this paper, we extend the investigation of the theoretical relationship between the dielectric properties and the moisture content of agricultural products to establish a sensing model in the 5 GHz band. To make the work practical, we are first to measure the dielectric properties of grape bunches (not individually as that would be destructive), presenting a unique measurement challenge as internal grapes are hidden. In doing so, we demonstrate that our technique precisely estimates moisture content to a high degree of accuracy (90Current RF sensing models to estimate moisture are destructive; they require samples to be constrained in containers. Our work is first to dispense with such impracticalities, and, without contact with the object, accurately measures non-uniform grape clusters in open space. We demonstrate that SING is superior to existing work in its ability to accurately measure the dielectric properties of non-uniform fruit objects and test this through both lab-based experimentation and preliminary outdoor vineyard tests.
Date Issued
2020-09-30
Date Acceptance
2020-09-22
Citation
IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 2020, 70, pp.1-12
ISSN
0018-9456
Publisher
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Start Page
1
End Page
12
Journal / Book Title
IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement
Volume
70
Copyright Statement
© 2020 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.
Identifier
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9210001
Subjects
Science & Technology
Technology
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Instruments & Instrumentation
Engineering
5 GHz
dielectric properties measurements
grapes
moisture estimation
noninvasive sensing
radio frequency (RF)
DIELECTRIC-PROPERTIES
YIELD ESTIMATION
VEGETABLES
FRUITS
PERMITTIVITIES
TEMPERATURE
0299 Other Physical Sciences
0906 Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Electrical & Electronic Engineering
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2020-09-30