assignment 2_ initial proposal

7/25/2019 Assignment 2_ Initial Proposal

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Initial Proposal

Have you ever opened your refrigerator only to be overwhelmed by the

foul smell of spoiled food? Most people have experienced the frustratingly

wasteful experience of storing food in modern refrigerators !ften people

forget that certain perishable items have been purchased until they "nd

themselves digging through the refrigerator trying to trac# down the origin of

a rancid smell $t%s safe to assume that most people don%t purchase food with

intentions of throwing it in the garbage wasting their hard earned money

&espite our best intentions the amount of food waste generated per person

is a startling statistic 'his claim is supported by a news release from the

()&* &epartment of +ommunication that stated, .ood waste the single

largest type of waste entering our land"lls -- *mericans throw away up to /0

percent of their foodiMy proposal is to automate the detection of foods in a

refrigerator that are spoiled or that may be nearing expiration 'he problem

lies with the inability to #eep trac# of which foods were purchased when as

well as how long they ta#e to spoil ven if foods are purchased during the

same trip to the grocery store they have drastic di2erences in shelf life3

which can be very di4cult to #eep trac# of hile there are numerous food

items3 each having multiple paths to degradation $ began with an attempt to

narrow the scope of this automation process by considering three main

categories of perishable foods )ome of the most common foods that are

thrown away due to spoilage are produce3 meat3 and dairy

ach of these three categories of food poses variation in their

degradation processes3 which can be identi"ed using speci"c gas sensors

that can detect very low concentrations 'his automation technology could

potentially be licensed to ma6or appliance manufacturers with the idea that

degradation sensor technology could be a standard in all refrigerators hen


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considering the potential consumer mar#et for refrigerators it is clear to see

the wide mar#et base that would bene"t from this type of automation

*ccording to the website 7eferenceforbusinesscom, 'here are an estimated

80 million units manufactured each year and some 500 million refrigerator-

freeers in use worldwideii

$n order to create an idea of how this automation process would wor# it

ma#es sense to consider one speci"c food category to explore the details $f

we consider produce as an example3 we can thin# of the space in the crisper

drawer as our system that we will monitor for changes that we can associate

with spoilage time Most of the fruits and vegetable spoilage that we su2er is

a result of ethylene gas3 which serves as a ripening hormone for produce

hen produce is exposed to elevated levels of ethylene the spoilage process

is accelerated and it can cause other fruits and vegetables to spoil

prematurely 'he proposed automation would ta#e advantage of an ethylene

sensor placed in the crisper drawer that will continuously measure the

change in the ethylene concentration over time $t is important to relate the

:uantity of ethylene to the remaining lifetime of the produce 'his

relationship is summaried concisely by .rontline )ervices3 who specialies in

the use of ethylene for the forced ripening of produce 'he article states, *ll

fruit produce at least small :uantities of ethylene during ripening and the

internal ethylene concentrations of non-climacteric fruit varies little during

their growth and ripening xposing non-climacteric fruit to external

concentrations of ethylene can transiently increase their respiration rate

proportionally to ethylene concentrations iii

'he rate of decay could potentially be modeled by an exponential

function since respiration increases as the ethylene concentration increases

'he correlation in the "gure below can be used to determine how long it will

ta#e for concentrations to reach a preprogrammed threshold !nce the

concentration reaches a certain set point3 a message would be sent to a

display in the format of an expected expiration date while simultaneously

sending a signal to an actuator to vent the crisper drawer through a small


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activated carbon "lter to lower the ethylene concentration 'his would serve

two purposes, the "rst would be to minimie spoilage due to increasing

ethylene concentrations 'he second function of the venting would be to

ma#e sure the sensor stays within a desired operating range 'he "gure

below shows the relationship over the "rst days of ripening that can be used

to model data

Example emission profles or CO2 and C2H4 or a ripening tomato

Figure 1: Image provided b Frontline Consulting !ervi"es iv


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$n this case the measured input would be the increasing ethylene

concentration as the produce spoils and the output would be a signal to a

numerical display as well as a signal to an actuator that turns on a vent fan

in order to purge the ethylene concentration bac# to a baseline level at

which time a signal would be sent to turn the vent fan o2 'he process

variable for this automation is the current ethylene concentration 'he

assumptions for this process are that it is understood that this form of

automation couldn%t possibly account for all of the potential ways that food

could go bad3 but instead focusing e2orts on the ma6or culprits

$t is important to address expectations in regards to mar#et perception

of the product to assure that an investment would be the right decision for

;reat $deas $nc 'he "rst and most obvious perspective to consider would be

that of the consumer e expect to be well received by manufacturers as

well as the end user customer hen considering the end user perspective of

our product3 it%s easy to see how wasting less produce will translate directly

to dollars saved .rom an appliance manufacturers point of view3 we

anticipate a certain degree of s#epticism until the technology is suitably

tested for accuracy and longevity !nce initial concerns have been addressed

we expect that manufacturers will be interested in licensing opportunities to

ensure that their appliances have the newest technology that demonstrates

their commitment to the consumers best interest *nother perspective to

consider would be that of any mar#et competition or anyone that may have a

negative reaction to our product $t ma#es sense that grocery stores may not

appreciate the dip in sales associated with people #eeping produce fresh for

longer periods of time +ompetitive products that currently exist could su2er

greatly in sales with the release of this product 'he closest technology to

our product that serves the same mar#et is an ethylene absorbing matt that

is designed to be placed in a crisper drawer and replaced periodically


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#or$ Cited


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assignment 2_ initial proposal

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