Putting Food-Safety Detection in the Hands of Consumers
November 15, 2018 | MITEstimated reading time: 5 minutes
The system’s concept derives from a technique called radio frequency spectroscopy, which excites a material with electromagnetic waves over a wide frequency and measures the various interactions to determine the material’s makeup.
But there was one major challenge in adapting this technique for the system: RFID tags only power up at a very tight bandwidth wavering around 950 megahertz. Extracting signals in that limited bandwidth wouldn’t net any useful information.
The researchers built on a sensing technique they developed earlier, called two-frequency excitation, which sends two frequencies — one for activation, and one for sensing — to measure hundreds more frequencies. The reader sends a signal at around 950 megahertz to power the RFID tag. When it activates, the reader sends another frequency that sweeps a range of frequencies from around 400 to 800 megahertz. It detects the feature changes across all these frequencies and feeds them to the reader.
“Given this response, it’s almost as if we have transformed cheap RFIDs into tiny radio frequency spectroscopes,” Adib says.
Because the shape of the container and other environmental aspects can affect the signal, the researchers are currently working on ensuring the system can account for those variables. They are also seeking to expand the system’s capabilities to detect many different contaminants in many different materials.
“We want to generalize to any environment,” Adib says. “That requires us to be very robust, because you want to learn to extract the right signals and to eliminate the impact of the environment from what’s inside the material.”
Page 2 of 2Suggested Items
Latest Test and Inspection Solutions from GOEPEL electronic at SMTconnect 2024
04/29/2024 | GOEPEL electronicGOEPEL electronic will be demonstrating automated test and inspection equipment at SMTconnect, taking place in Nuremberg from June 11 to 13, 2024.
TSMC Celebrates 30th North America Technology Symposium
04/29/2024 | TSMCTSMC unveiled its newest semiconductor process, advanced packaging, and 3D IC technologies for powering the next generation of AI innovations with silicon leadership at the Company’s 2024 North America Technology Symposium.
QinetiQ Achieves UK’s First Jet-to-Jet Teaming Between Aircraft and Autonomous Drone
04/29/2024 | QinetiQQinetiQ has successfully trialled the UK’s first Crewed-Uncrewed-Teaming demonstration between a crewed aircraft and an autonomous jet drone.
Lockheed Martin Australia, The Department Of Defence Sign Strategic Partnership Head Contract
04/26/2024 | Lockheed MartinLockheed Martin Australia signed a landmark AUD$500 million contract with the Department of Defence to build Australia’s future Joint Air Battle Management System under project - AIR6500 Phase 1 (AIR6500-1).
Cadence, TSMC Collaborate on Wide-Ranging Innovations to Transform System and Semiconductor Design
04/25/2024 | Cadence Design SystemsCadence Design Systems, Inc. and TSMC have extended their longstanding collaboration by announcing a broad range of innovative technology advancements to accelerate design, including developments ranging from 3D-IC and advanced process nodes to design IP and photonics.