Low-Cost Real-Time Non-Invasive Milk Quality Monitoring Using 60 GHz FMCW Radars

Abstract

Combining the vast growing field of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies and a low-cost electromagnetic radar solution for the real-time monitoring of liquid products during production may enable companies to address quality issues quickly and efficiently. This paper demonstrates a proof-of-concept that an electromagnetic radar can be implemented for milk monitoring. The Dielectric Assessment Kit (DAK) is used for the initial dielectric characterization of different milk fat concentrations. A 60 GHz radar sensor is used for the characterization of milk fat in cartons. AI models can be integrated into the data processing to correlate the radar signals to the milk fat concentration of a product. The real-time processing allows products to be flagged if they deviate too much from their reference sample. This work demonstrates a low-cost, non-invasive 60 GHz FMCW radar system for real-time milk quality monitoring. A classification accuracy of 87.5% was achieved for moving cartons, and 100% for stationary cartons. The results confirm the potential for scaling this approach in industrial production lines.

Keywords

• Wireless sensors
• low-cost
• real-time
• Internet of Things systems
• milk
• monitoring