Spatio-Temporal Optimization of Perishable Goods’ Shelf Life by a Pro-Active WSN-Based Architecture

Abstract

The waste in the perishable goods supply-chain has prompted many global organizations (e.g., FAO and WHO), to develop the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) protocol that ensures a high degree of food quality, minimizing the losses in all the stages of the farm-to-fork chain. It has been proven that good warehouse management practices improve the average life of perishable goods. The advances in wireless sensors network (WSN) technology offers the possibility of a “smart” storage organization. In this paper, a low cost reprogrammable WSN-based architecture for functional warehouse management is proposed. The management is based on the continuous monitoring of environmental parameters (i.e., temperature, light exposure and relative humidity), and on their combination to extract a spatial real-time prediction of the product shelf life. For each product, the quality decay is computed by using a 1st order kinetic Arrhenius model to the whole storage site area. It strives to identify, in a way compatible with the other products’ shelf lives, the position within the warehouse that maximizes the food expiration date. The shelf life computing and the “first-expired first-out” logistic problem are entrusted to a Raspberry Pi-based central unit, which manages a set of automated pallet transporters for the displacement of products, according to the computed shelf lives. The management unit supports several commercial light/temperature/humidity sensor solutions, implementing ZigBee, Bluetooth and HTTP-request interfaces. A proof of concept of the presented pro-active WSN-based architecture is also shown. Comparing the proposed monitoring system for the storage of e.g., agricultural products, with a typical one, the experimental results show an improvement of the expected expiration date of about 1.2 ± 0.5 days, for each pallet, when placed in a non-refrigerated environment. In order to stress the versatility of the WSN solution, a section is dedicated to the implemented system user interfaces that highlight detecting critical situations and allow timely automatic or human interventions, minimizing the latter.

Monitoring of Temperature in Retail Refrigerated Cabinets Applying IoT Over Open-Source Hardware and Software

“…Although there are other options with a greater number of inputs and outputs, this is enough for the development of the proposed solution. Studies in the literature [23] show that the number of inputs supported by the central unit is limited. In the proposed solution, the system is decentralized, achieving a system with control based on ESP8266 enabling multiple inputs at a very low cost.…”

“…Among the technologies offering temperature control solutions currently available throughout the cold chain, wireless sensor surveillance technologies, especially radio frequency (RF) and wireless sensor networks (WSN), have been regarded as leaders in this field [16,17], with many works on its implementation to achieve global food temperature traceability at different points in the chain, becoming part of broader food safety systems [18][19][20][21][22][23]. Nevertheless, far fewer research studies in the retail sector refer to cabinet and refrigeration equipment temperature control.…”

Performance Analysis of Three Intelligent Algorithms on Route Selection of Fishbone Layout

“…Warehouse layout plays an important role in the logistics activities of the whole warehouse [1][2][3][4][5][6]. As a result, enterprises can obtain benefits by changing the layouts of their warehouses [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16].…”

Real-Time Monitoring System for Shelf Life Estimation of Fruit and Vegetables

“…This proposed model would allow to predict the days the commodities will reduce their theoretical shelf-life when an improper temperature during storage or in-transit occurs. The system, developed as a sensor-based tool, has been tested during several land transportation trips around Europe.Storage or in-transit temperature is the most important environmental factor affecting perishable food quality [6]. Therefore, the actors involved in the supply chain must deliver the commodities preserving the cold chain to avoid inappropriate food loses and waste, while preserving quality and safety [7].…”

“…Storage or in-transit temperature is the most important environmental factor affecting perishable food quality [6]. Therefore, the actors involved in the supply chain must deliver the commodities preserving the cold chain to avoid inappropriate food loses and waste, while preserving quality and safety [7].…”