I-Corps: Surface-wave-based sensing of strength and stiffness of soft materials

这个I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一种坚固且易于安装的传感器模块，该模块可在工业加工线中提供软材料的机械性能。在较小的力下可以明显变形的材料被归类为软质。橡胶、泡沫、凝胶和生物组织等天然和合成软材料在食品生产、结构、机器人、3D打印、农业、制药加工和生物医学应用中无处不在。因此，软材料的机械性能是许多行业的主要兴趣。所提出的传感器的开发和部署对于软食品加工行业立即可行。当集成到食品加工线时，该传感器将为生产线管理人员和操作员提供有关正在加工的食品的强度，硬度，质地和一致性的高吞吐量实时数据。该反馈将使得能够优化加工设置和环境，并且因此将促进减少切边损失和加工食品的在线质量控制。因此，所提出的技术将有助于食品加工商和制造商减少食物浪费的努力。 生物医学、农业和聚合物加工行业的自然扩展是可能的，因为创新是可扩展的，并适用于各种软材料和加工线。这个I-Corps项目是基于开发一种基于表面波的传感方法，该方法可以提供软材料的弹性和失效特性。该传感方法基于表面波和机械性能之间的相关性：测量和分析软材料加工过程中发出的表面波，并将估计的波振幅、能量和频率与软材料的弹性和失效特性相关联。测量的特性（强度、刚度和韧性）可提供有关软材料微观结构、质地和一致性的基本信息。因此，这种创新的传感技术广泛适用于软材料加工行业。最初，传感模块将适用于食品加工行业。在该模块中，在水果、蔬菜、奶酪、肉类和肉类替代品的切割、切片、剥皮和切碎过程中发出的表面波将由非接触式光学传感器监测，产品的弹性和断裂特性将从表面波分析中提取。这些特性将提供对产品质量、加工条件和操作的在线监测。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a robust and easily installed sensor module that delivers mechanical properties of soft materials in industrial processing lines. Materials that can deform visibly under small forces are classified as soft. Natural and synthetic soft materials such as rubber, foams, gels and biological tissues are ubiquitous in food production, structures, robots, 3D-printing, agriculture, pharmaceutical processing, and biomedical applications. Hence, the mechanical properties of soft materials are of primary interest to many industries. The development and deployment of the proposed sensor is immediately feasible for the soft food processing industry. When integrated to food processing lines, this sensor will provide high throughput real-time data to the production line managers and operators about strength, stiffness, texture, and consistency of the food being processed. This feedback will enable optimization of the processing settings and environment and thus will facilitate reduction of trim losses and online quality control of the processed food. Therefore, the proposed technology will help food waste reduction efforts of the food processors and manufacturers. Natural expansion to biomedical, agricultural and polymer processing industries is possible as the innovation is scalable and adaptable to various soft materials and processing lines. This I-Corps project is based on the development of a surface-wave-based sensing method that delivers elastic and failure properties of soft materials. The sensing method is based on correlations between surface wave and mechanical properties: surface waves emitted during processing of soft materials are measured and analyzed, and estimated wave amplitude, energy and frequencies are correlated to the elastic and failure properties of soft materials. Measured properties (strength, stiffness, and toughness) deliver essential information on microstructure, texture, and consistency of soft materials. Therefore, this innovative sensing technique is broadly applicable to soft material processing industries. Initially, the sensing module will be adapted to the food processing industry. In this module, surface-waves emitted during cutting, slicing, peeling, and shredding of fruits, vegetables, cheese, meat, and meat substitutes will be monitored by non-contact optical sensors, and the elasticity and fracture properties of the products will be extracted from the surface-wave analyses. Those properties will provide online monitoring of product quality, processing conditions and operations. Such a monitoring system is currently missing in the food processing industry.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.