Device and method for identifying a substance inside a container

Abstract

Device and method for identifying a substance inside a container, comprising: an electromagnetic sensor comprising an emitter and receiver, for emitting near-field electromagnetic radiation into the inside of the container and receiving a near-field electromagnetic signal from the inside of the container; a displacement mechanism attached to the sensor for adjusting a distance between the sensor and the container, wherein the distance is a near-field electromagnetic radiation distance; an electronic data processor configured for identifying the substance, by carrying out the steps of: activating the sensor for emitting near-field electromagnetic radiation; activating the displacement mechanism for adjusting a distance between the sensor and the container, and acquiring, from the receiver of the sensor, the received near-field electromagnetic signal, and correlating the acquired near-field electromagnetic signal according to the adjusted distance with previously acquired samples of near-field electromagnetic signal according to adjusted distance of identified substances, for identifying the substance.

Description

D E S C R I P T I O NDEVICE AN D M ETHOD FOR IDENTIFYING A SUBSTANCE INSIDE A CONTAINERTECH NICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an apparatus and method to be used for liquid signature acquirement and liquid components recognition inside a non-metal container of any format or colour. Liquid under this context is every substance drinkable or not, liquor, alcoholic beverage, soft drinks, solution, juices, lactic, liquid food, oil in different forms, perfumes, fuels, inks, pharmacy products, liquid medicines, aerosols, body fluids, or even water, liquids with different viscosity and consistency. Also, powders, clay, flours, pastes, gels, pigments, among others with different granularity, jams and honey, are under this invention scope.BACKGROU ND

[0002] Containers such as, for example, glass bottles, due to mass productions lines, are difficult to guarantee: a regular inside and outside surface; constant thickness material along the whole perimeter; uniformity on side materials. Other kind of containers have also similar problems.

[0003] Any liquid (substance) measured under these circumstances gives different results for different bottles (containers). Apparatus and method described within this disclosure solve this problem.

[0004] Document US11867833B2 discloses a classification method comprising the steps of: positioning an object and a radar unit in proximity to each other; receiving by the radar unit radar signals reflected from the object; and classifying the object, wherein the classifying is based on the radar signals and / or at least one feature extracted from the radar signals, and the classifying of the object comprises determining classification data for the object.

[0005] Document CN1948951A discloses a device for measuring liquid substance content by near-infrared spectroscopy. Converter, beam splitter, standard whiteboard, temperature sensor system, control module, spectral data register, calibration parameter register, calculation module, and result output module are fixed in the constant temperature box to form; because this document adopts near infrared double beam spectrum.

[0006] CN105891150A discloses a liquid detection device and a detection method thereof for a near-infrared spectrum analyzer. The liquid detection device comprises a sample test tube, an inner light penetrating hole, a semi-transparent and semi-reflective lens, a sample channel detector and an air channel detector, wherein the inner light penetrating hole, the semi-transparent and semi-reflective lens and the sample channel detector are arranged on a straight line to form a sample testing optical path; the air channel detector is arranged at one side of the semi-transparent and semi-reflective lens, and is used for receiving the reflective light of the semi-transparent and semi- reflective lens; in the detection process, the sample test tube is arranged on the sample testing optical path between the semi-transparent and semi-reflective lens and the sample channel detector.

[0007] CN106841105B discloses a multi-wavelength near infrared spectrum measuring device for identifying substances. When the device is used for recognizing the material composition of a sample on the basis of an infrared spectroscopic analysis technique, the radiation intensity of the sample in a plurality of infrared spectrum sections can be quickly measured, so that the spectrum feature of the sample is extracted. The measuring device is used for separating a to-be-measured spectrum section from broadband infrared radiation on the basis of a band pass filter; through a special light path structure, the band pass filter can simultaneously complete the work of light beam splitting and spectral filtering; the radiation energy loss caused by an independent beam splitting link can be eliminated.

[0008] These facts are disclosed in order to illustrate the technical problem addressed by the present disclosure.GENERAL DESCRIPTION

[0009] Preferable embodiment of this disclosure comprises of two processes: to tune apparatus for a given substance; and to acquire a real signature or to recognise components in a substance.

[0010] One embodiment of the apparatus comprises of a sensor, working on frequencies below far infrared (FIR) radiation, attached to worm screw, which is also coupled to a stepper motor, allowing precision movements. A perfect perpendicular alignment of the sensor with the bottle is desirable and is possible by using a cradle to fit, with high precision, the bottle (container).

[0011] The sensor is a device able to send and receive energy, in a way of electromagnetic waves and working in near-filed antenna. The received analogue output signal is then coupled to analogue-to-digital (ADC), to have a digital representation of the respective analogue signal. A voltage control oscillator (VCO) is used to have a frequency variation and increase the signal bandwidth.

[0012] It is disclosed an apparatus, including: a sensor working on frequencies below far infrared (FIR) radiation attached to worm screw; sensor antenna is working under near field region; a precision stepper motor coupled to the worm screw or a similar mechanism to obtain precision movements; an analogue-to-digital converter configured to acquire a digital representation of the sensor output, set up on a given position; a cradle configuration and form to adapt each container to apparatus.

[0013] In an embodiment, the sensor can work on frequencies bellow far infrared (FIR) radiation.

[0014] In an embodiment, the sensor antenna can work under near field region. In an embodiment, the sensor comprises a transmitter and receiver energy signal in an electromagnetic form.

[0015] In an embodiment, the transmitted sensor signal varies in frequency and changes on time.

[0016] In an embodiment, the received signal represents a timing and frequency combined response of container plus substance.

[0017] In an embodiment, the analogue-to-digital converter is part of a processor circuit, the processor circuit is configured to store data, a digital representation obtained from analogue-to-digital converter.

[0018] In an embodiment, the processor circuit compares two data signals to obtain the substance digital representation.

[0019] In an embodiment, the precision stepper motor produces movements on sensor of range from tenths of millimetres to nanometres.

[0020] In an embodiment, the processor circuit creates and controls stepper motor back and forth movements.

[0021] It is also disclosed a method for identification of a substance, inside a non- metallic container, the method is comprised by a sensor measuring the group container plus substance: tuning container plus substance to get the best position of group container plus substance; acquiring signature of substance from two close sensor positions near tuning position.

[0022] In an embodiment, the signature of substance is: the digital representation of acquired data from sensor; the position of sensor when the signature is acquired by the sensor; the deviation of sensor from the two close sensor positions.

[0023] In an embodiment, the best position is obtained by a movement back and forth of sensor or container.

[0024] In an embodiment, instead of moving the sensor back and forth, substance container rotates around itself, as an alternative to have a perpendicular movement related to the sensor.

[0025] In an embodiment, to the substance nothing was added or changed for identification purpose.

[0026] In an embodiment, the best position can be obtained by the sensor position, where the most different data was obtained from same container having similar substances.

[0027] In an embodiment, the signature is stored on a database for future use.

[0028] In an embodiment, the stored information is named or referenced by: product label; product digital identification.

[0029] In an embodiment, the signature is used to verify a given substance, where the method comprises of: acquiring digital label information to get the reference stored signature data; requesting the position and deviation from stored signature data; moving sensor to the requested signature; acquiring data from the two positions separated by the deviation; sending acquired data to remote store processor to verify signature; receiving validation result for human interface.

[0030] In an embodiment, changes on sensor signalling is used for detection and recognition of components on a given substance, the changes comprise: frequency shifts through changes on voltage control oscillator; linear forms of signal on voltage control oscillator; non-linear forms of signal on voltage control oscillator; off-on-off power supply of sensor or voltage control oscillator.

[0031] In an embodiment, is used for detection and recognition of various components or simple and complex molecules.

[0032] In an embodiment, is used for detection and recognition of various pathogenic molecules such as bacteria, viruses or parasites, and toxins, individually or a mix combination.

[0033] In an embodiment, the sensor antenna is working under near field region. The sensor working on frequencies below far infrared (FIR) radiation and distances applied fits in near-field antenna.

[0034] It is disclosed an apparatus to acquire a liquid signature and to do components recognition inside a non-metal container of any format or colour. All information from liquid is obtained via received signals from a sensor working on frequencies below far infrared (FIR) radiation and distances applied fits in near-field antenna. If the liquid is bottled, it will be measured by apparatus and the label may also contains digital data, a ID or 2D printed code. The information is then stored in a database (any data repository) for future use. Through all product supply chain, until consumer, the apparatus is usedto measure and by database or other scheme crossing information, the liquid signature is validated, verified or quantified, also according to printed code on label.

[0035] It is disclosed a device for identifying a substance inside a container which is transparent or translucent to near-field electromagnetic radiation, comprising: an electromagnetic sensor comprising an emitter and receiver, for emitting near-field electromagnetic radiation into the inside of the container and receiving a near-field electromagnetic radiation signal from the inside of the container; a displacement mechanism attached to the sensor for adjusting a distance between the sensor and the container, wherein the distance is a near-field electromagnetic radiation distance; an electronic data processor configured for identifying the substance, by carrying out the steps of: activating the emitter of the sensor for emitting near-field electromagnetic radiation; activating the displacement mechanism for adjusting a distance between the sensor and the container, and acquiring, from the receiver of the sensor, the received near-field electromagnetic signal, and correlating the acquired near-field electromagnetic signal according to the adjusted distance with previously acquired samples of near-field electromagnetic signal according to adjusted distance of identified substances, for identifying the substance.

[0036] In an embodiment, the substance is a liquid. The present disclosure considers that liquids are a specific state of matter characterized by their flow and lack of fixed shape, substances refer to any type of matter with a uniform composition, which can include liquids as well as solids and gases.

[0037] In an embodiment, the displacement mechanism is a worm gear, gear trains, belt and pulley systems, chain drives, planetary gear systems or direct drive systems.

[0038] In an embodiment, the displacement mechanism is arranged to displace near- field electromagnetic sensor radially in respect of the container.

[0039] In an embodiment, the received near-field electromagnetic signal is reflected or reemitted near-field electromagnetic radiation by the substance.

[0040] In an embodiment, correlating the acquired near-field electromagnetic signal according to the adjusted distance for identifying the substance comprises using a pretrained machine-learning model for identifying the substance.

[0041] In an embodiment, the pretrained machine-learning model is an artificial neural network.

[0042] In an embodiment, the device further comprises a display for displaying the identified liquid or substance to a user.

[0043] In an embodiment, the display is a Liquid Crystal Display, Light Emitting Diode display, Organic Light Emitting Diode display, Electronic Paper Display, Plasma Display or Projection Display.

[0044] In an embodiment, the container is a receptacle or vessel made of materials other than metal.

[0045] In an embodiment, the container is made of plastic, glass, ceramic, fiberglass- reinforced plastics, metal alloys with non-metal components, corn starch, sugarcane, or combinations thereof.

[0046] In an embodiment, the device further comprises a voltage control oscillator arranged to have a frequency variation and increase the near-field electromagnetic signal bandwidth of the near-field electromagnetic radiation into the inside of the container.

[0047] It is also disclosed a computer-based method for identifying a substance inside a container by a device, said device comprising an electromagnetic sensor comprising an emitter and receiver, a displacement mechanism attached to the sensor, an electronic data processor configured for identifying the substance, said method comprising the steps of: activating the emitter of the sensor for emitting near-field electromagnetic radiation; activating the displacement mechanism for adjusting a distance between the sensor and the container, and acquiring, from the receiver of the sensor, the received near-field electromagnetic signal, and correlating the acquired near-field electromagnetic signal according to the adjusted distance with previously acquiredsamples of near-field electromagnetic signal according to adjusted distance of identified substances, for identifying the substance.

[0048] In an embodiment, the method further comprising inputting previously acquired samples of near-field electromagnetic signal according to adjusted distance of identified substances to a pretrained machine-learning model.

[0049] It is also disclosed a non-transitory computer storage medium comprising program instructions that when executed by an electronic data processor cause it to carry out the method of any of the previous embodiments.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0050] The following figures provide preferred embodiments for illustrating the disclosure and should not be seen as limiting the scope of disclosure.

[0051] Figure 1: Schematic representation of an embodiment of a base principle how apparatus works with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0052] Figure 2: Schematic representation of an embodiment of the base principle how apparatus uses a cradle with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0053] Figure 3: Schematic representation of the main elements of a base principle how apparatus uses a cradle with at least two embodiments of different bottles (top view) of the present disclosure.

[0054] Figure 4: Schematic representation of the main elements of a computer block diagram environment with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0055] Figure 5: Schematic representation of the sensor block diagram with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0056] Figure 6: Schematic representation of an example of interconnection environment with at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, using a Smartphone.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0057] Preferable embodiment of this disclosure comprises two processes: to tune apparatus for a given substance; and to acquire a real signature or to recognise components in a substance.

[0058] One embodiment of the apparatus comprises on a sensor 103, working on frequencies below far infrared (FIR) radiation, attached 104 to worm screw 105, which is also coupled to a stepper motor 106, allowing precision movements. A perfect perpendicular alignment of the sensor with the bottle is desirable and is possible by using a cradle 207 to fit, with high precision, the bottle (container) 100.

[0059] The sensor is a device able to send and receive energy 502, in a way of electromagnetic waves and due to the used of sub-millimetre distances antenna is working under near field region. The received analogue output signal 501 is then coupled to analogue-to-digital (ADC) 500, to have a digital representation of the respective analogue signal. A voltage control oscillator (VCO) 503 is used to have a frequency variation 504 and increase the signal bandwidth.

[0060] To tune apparatus for the substance, the sensor starts from position zero (closest to the bottle) and data is collected from sensor and stored. Sensor is them moved away few microns from the bottle and, again, data is collected from sensor and stored. The cycle is repeated for several times. Next step is keeping the same bottle and change the substance for a very similar one (for example water on first step and water added with few drops of vinegar on second step). Doing same process, starting sensor from position zero, final results are compared with previous results, in which the main objective is to get the position where sensor gives the most different data (the tune apparatus position).

[0061] For a given substance it is possible to get a real signature, by measuring two times with sensor, in two close positions, nearby the tune apparatus position. The difference between the two readings and their related positions, help to compose the data for the future registered signature information.

[0062] Other variants of the present invention embodiment description to tune apparatus and acquire respective signature are described. Instead of moving the sensor back and forth, substance container rotates around itself, as an alternative to have a perpendicular movement related to the sensor. All these implementations variants are adapted the best way to the container shape or format, and also to the substance inside. Sometimes, an alignment between sensor and container is difficult to define, especially when container is not symmetric, and under certain circumstances could not be the best approach, resulting in an angular best solution. The tune process embodiment presented on this invention is the study to solve the problem and the process needs to be repeated for each liquid or substance, type of bottle and container.

[0063] This disclosure is very wide-ranging in terms of container and substances, where it can be applied on different areas and products. The focus on a liquid substance and a container, bottle of glass 100, was, for the present disclosure, a motivation to reach current results (in the meantime other substances and containers were used). Using glass bottles 100 is giving a real challenge by itself, due to glass bottle mass production process, it is difficult to guarantee two equal units. Small differences on glass thickness over all side, on glass material, on dimensions, irregularities found inside and outside glass surface, among others, cause problems on measurement of liquids.

[0064] The challenge was to identify a liquid, alcoholic drink, in a bottle of glass 100 without open it. It can be a problem for a given bottled product, because the liquid inside may not refer what the buyer visualizes on the label 101. Market solutions to solve this problem use stopper sealing techniques, to detect bottle violations and potential liquid changes. However, risk of violation or copy of stopper still exists. There is also a possibility of swapping the genuine liquid with a fake one, through a small hole on the glass. A non-intrusive test directly with the liquid must be done, to assure substance inside was not changed, altered or damaged. This disclosure gives the chance to evaluate and check which is the liquid inside, without opening the bottle 100 and without adding anything to the product. Underthese circumstances, the bottle label 101 is very important to give rapid product identification to the user and for supply chain checking.

[0065] The process starts from the filling process at producer, where the claim apparatus reads the filled bottle to acquire a first-time signature (the pattern signature). This signature is stored on a controlled information system 604 for future use on validations. It is also part of the stored information the data from digital label 101 identification 102, e.g. bar code, 2D code or other kind of coding. In the need of liquid identification, a device reads the digital label information 102 and asks for the sensor position and deviation, the apparatus then places sensor 103 on the right position, reads the liquid on two positions and checks against the record. The result will be a calculated confident value.

[0066] The communication between apparatus and remote database 604 (or any other information system) can be done through a Smartphone 601. Under this scenario, Smartphone belongs to a user, previously registered on the system, which is interested on a given substance validation. In a first step, the Smartphone establishes a communication with apparatus 602, by checking a peer-to-peer link to apparatus database host computer 604. The user places the bottle 600 into the cradle, in front of apparatus, and reads the digital data label code (for example, a bar code 605). At this time Smartphone will contact the database host 604 to retrieve position and deviation of the sensor, part of substance signature, and once received will send this data to apparatus 602. Apparatus, after reading and processing data from sensor, will send information through Smartphone 601 to remote host database 604. The signature validation is checked against respective stored data and result is shown on user's Smartphone 601.

[0067] The apparatus 602 has a processing board 403 comprising on a block with a set of components: micro-controller 405, ROM or EPROM 407, RAM 408 and DSP 406. This block is using a bus 404 to send and receive data from and to sensor 400 and to control stepper motor drive 401. A communication module 402 is the external interface to the world and may utilize an Internet of Things (loT) concept through a combination of Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, NFC, Ethernet cable, USB or serial port. The communication module 402 can also use mobile data link through, 4G / 5G network. The micro-controller 405 is used to manage apparatus over a set of commands and response from and to external devices using the communication modules. The commands can be, for example, thesensor position during a measurement and its response. Once the apparatus receives a new position of the sensor, micro-controller 405 uses stepper motor driver 401 to move sensor back or forth. The measurements which the sensor 400 does (a set of signals) are treated on Digital Signal Processing 406 (DSP), in a way to be used by a decision maker, a feature located within micro-controller or outside, where data is stored.

[0068] Sensor signalling can vary in frequency and time 504. With this feature it is possible to recognise and identify various molecules and components. Each time energy, on a sub frequency below FIR, or even energy from visible or invisible light spectrum, is sent by the sensor, a molecular motion effect is created and energy reflection happens. Different molecules arise different motions and reflections, resulting on different responses on the received signals. Each response can be seen as attenuation amplification, scattering or phase change, where attenuation comes from energy absorption and amplification may come due to molecular format and position in liquid.

[0069] The claim disclosure, apparatus and method are then able to detect various pathogenic molecules such as bacteria, viruses or parasites, and toxins, individually or a mix combination.

[0070] To identify and recognise molecules and components, apparatus needs to be tuned. Container with substance to be inspected is placed in front of the sensor and in the middle of the cradle, to best fit. On this tuning process is desired to have a "clean substance" (the pattern substance), without containing any inspected aim molecules, for example, the substance is water and the aim molecule is salmonella. The meaning of "clean substance" is defined by a substance where the existence of searched aimed molecules isn't bigger than a real case limit. Acting over stepper motor, the sensor is moved to the closest position of container. The first turn of sequential measurement starts and, each time sensor is moving back in few microns (away from container), a new measure is done. The number of steps depends on the length of the worm screw and displacement dimension. The pattern substance is then replaced by a very similar one (for example water as the pattern and water with few drops of vinegar as the inspected sample) and a second turn measurement process starts again from the sensor position closest to the container. In the end of both turns the stored data is compared andchecked, the biggest difference between measurements of same locations is understandable as the tune position. On the tune position, it is possible to eliminate disturbance on the measurement caused by container by collecting data from two close positions nearby the tune position. The measure of this disturbance effect is given by the difference between both data. Once this tune process is done for a given substance then it is possible to recognize its components. These undesired or unknown components can be various pathogenic microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses or parasites, and toxins or even complex molecules like proteins among others, individually or a mix combination.

[0071] On an early stage of the recognition process it is required to acquire the "pattern substance", made possible by the collection data from two close positions nearby the tune position. This pattern will then be used in future measurements to detect any change of data acquired from apparatus; it will work as a reference. The acknowledgement of the cause of change is a work to be done previously on a laboratory, with a controlled environment and where the known components are added to our reference. Playing with frequency, creating variation on voltage of control oscillator, VCO is a way to find particular characteristics on signalling to identify or recognize the components. Because some components (e.g. molecules) react on a different way, from substance to substance, variations of voltage on control oscillator are applied to recognize those components. Variations of voltage on control oscillator are understood by linear forms, like triangular signal or sinusoidal signal and where the frequency of such signal can also vary. However, non-linear signals voltages of control oscillator are also possible, like sawtooth signal, square signal, pulse and pulse width. There isn't a recipe or a predefined way to discover a specific component, a simple or complex molecule, however, playing with different variables is possible to reach success. An example of such method was the identification of vinegar within water as reference.

[0072] Once the method is discovered, the recipe method needs to be stored on a digital form, for future use, meaning all information: timing of signalling, position of sensor relatively to container, length and angle, and deviation of the two close positions. As an alternative of moving sensor back and forth, the container rotates itself or having a transversal movement related to the sensor. All these implementations variants areadapted, the best possible way, to the shape, or format, of container and also to the internal substance, and are part of this invention. Sometimes, an alignment between sensor and container is difficult to define, especially when container is not symmetric, and under certain circumstances could not be the best approach, resulting in an angular best solution. The tune process embodiment presented on this invention is the study to solve the problem and the process needs to be repeated for each liquid or substance, type of bottle and container.

[0073] An example of an application of identification and recognition of molecules and components is in food safety control.

[0074] A portable apparatus is preferred, especially for shopping surfaces, to detect on shelf quality and safety of products as vegetables, meat and fish, and where the responsible person go through all shop corridors finding problems on food before it goes to market, or for consumer to validate authenticity during checkout. It is also obvious this may also be interesting to prevent counterfeiting and on food manipulation and manufacturing shop floors.

[0075] The term "comprising" whenever used in this document is intended to indicate the presence of stated features, integers, steps, components, but not to preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, components or groups thereof. The disclosure should not be seen in any way restricted to the embodiments described and a person with ordinary skill in the art will foresee many possibilities to modifications thereof. The above-described embodiments are combinable. The following claims further set out particular embodiments of the disclosure.

Claims

C L A I M S1. Device for identifying a substance inside a container, comprising: an electromagnetic sensor comprising an emitter and receiver, for emitting nearfield electromagnetic radiation into the inside of the container and receiving a nearfield electromagnetic signal from the inside of the container; a displacement mechanism attached to the sensor for adjusting a distance between the sensor and the container, wherein the distance is a near-field electromagnetic radiation distance; an electronic data processor configured for identifying the substance, by carrying out the steps of: activating the emitter of the sensor for emitting near-field electromagnetic radiation; activating the displacement mechanism for adjusting a distance between the sensor and the container, and acquiring, from the receiver of the sensor, the received near- field electromagnetic signal, and correlating the acquired near-field electromagnetic signal according to the adjusted distance with previously acquired samples of near-field electromagnetic signal according to adjusted distance of identified substances, for identifying the substance.

2. Device for identifying a substance inside a container according to any of the previous claims, further comprising a voltage control oscillator arranged to have a frequency variation and increase the near-field electromagnetic signal bandwidth of the near-field electromagnetic radiation into the inside of the container.

3. Device for identifying a substance inside a container according to any of the previous claims, wherein the substance is a liquid.

4. Device for identifying a substance inside a container according to any of the previous claims, wherein the displacement mechanism is a worm gear.

5. Device for identifying a substance inside a container according to any of the previous claims, wherein the displacement mechanism is arranged to displace electromagnetic sensor radially in respect of the container.

6. Device for identifying a substance inside a container according to any of the previous claims, wherein the received near-field electromagnetic signal is reflected or reemitted near-field electromagnetic radiation by the substance.

7. Device for identifying a substance inside a container according to any of the previous claims, wherein correlating the acquired near-field electromagnetic signal according to the adjusted distance for identifying the substance comprises using a pretrained machine-learning model for identifying the substance.

8. Device for identifying a substance inside a container according to the previous claim, wherein the pretrained machine-learning model is an artificial neural network.

9. Device for identifying a substance inside a container according to any of the previous claims, further comprising a display for displaying the identified substance to a user.

10. Device for identifying a substance inside a container according to the previous claim, wherein the display is a Liquid Crystal Display, Light Emitting Diode display, Organic Light Emitting Diode display, Electronic Paper Display, Plasma Display or Projection Display.

11. Device for identifying a substance inside a container according to any of the previous claims wherein the container is a receptacle or vessel made of materials other than metal.

12. Device for identifying a substance inside a container according to any of the previous claims, wherein the container is made of plastic, glass, ceramic, fiberglass-reinforced plastics, metal alloys with non-metal components, corn starch, sugarcane, or combinations thereof.

13. Method for identifying a substance inside a container by a device, said device comprising an electromagnetic sensor comprising an emitter and receiver, a displacement mechanism attached to the sensor, an electronic data processor configured for identifying the substance, said method comprising the steps of: activating the emitter of the sensor for emitting near-field electromagnetic radiation; activating the displacement mechanism foradjusting a distance between the sensor and the container, and acquiring, from the receiver of the sensor, the received near- field electromagnetic signal, and correlating the acquired near-field electromagnetic signal according to the adjusted distance with previously acquired samples of near-field electromagnetic signal according to adjusted distance of identified substances, for identifying the substance.

14. Method according to the previous claim further comprising inputting previously acquired samples of near-field electromagnetic signal according to adjusted distance of identified substances to a pretrained machine-learning model.

15. Non-transitory computer storage medium comprising program instructions that when executed by an electronic data processor cause it to carry out the method of any of the claims 13 - 14.

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