Probe Interface Component for Mobile Food Safety Data Logging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current food safety monitoring techniques require expensive, specialized devices with limited capabilities, making them difficult to upgrade and use for capturing multiple types of sensor data, and they often necessitate extensive training, limiting accessibility and flexibility.
Innovation Solution
A flexible logging system is created by configuring a mobile computer, such as a smartphone or tablet, to interface with environmental sensors via a probe interface component, allowing the capture, consolidation, and storage of various sensor data types using readily available components, enabling easy interchange of probes and upgrades to processing power and sensor types.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If specialized monitoring devices are used to ensure food safety data capture, then measurement precision and reliability are improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by using a mobile computer (smartphone or tablet) that serves multiple functions: it acts as both the measurement device for capturing temperature data and the logging device for recording and storing the data. The mobile computer interfaces with various probes (temperature, humidity, etc.) through a probe interface component, allowing a single device to perform what traditionally required multiple specialized instruments. This multi-functional approach maintains measurement precision while reducing overall system complexity.
2Measurement precision
If specialized monitoring devices are used to ensure food safety data capture, then measurement precision is improved, but ease of operation and accessibility worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The mobile computer serves as a universal platform that combines measurement capabilities with user-friendly interfaces. Users can operate the system with familiar mobile device interactions while achieving precise temperature measurements through connected probes. The system consolidates multiple functions (measurement, logging, analysis) into one device that users already know how to operate, eliminating the need for extensive training on specialized equipment.
Solution Approach 2:
The probe interface component acts as an intermediary that connects various types of probes to the mobile computer's audio interface. This mediator enables the mobile computer to receive data from different sensor types through a standardized connection method, expanding accessibility while maintaining measurement precision through proper signal conditioning and processing.
3Reliability
If specialized monitoring devices are used, then reliability of food safety monitoring is improved, but adaptability and ease of upgrading sensor types worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The mobile computer provides a universal platform that can reliably handle multiple sensor types through the probe interface component. The system maintains reliability by using proven probe technologies while gaining adaptability through the ability to connect different probe types (temperature, humidity, etc.) to the same mobile device. This allows the system to adapt to different monitoring needs without compromising the reliability of data capture.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements dynamics by allowing flexible configuration and interchange of probe types based on monitoring requirements. The mobile computer can dynamically adapt to different sensor configurations, enabling the system to evolve and upgrade sensor types as needs change while maintaining reliable operation throughout.
4Measurement precision
If specialized monitoring devices are used, then measurement precision is improved, but loss of time for data logging and processing worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the measurement function and logging function into a single integrated system. The mobile computer simultaneously performs temperature measurement (through the probe) and data logging (through its operating system and applications). This consolidation eliminates the time loss associated with separate logging devices, as data is captured and recorded in real-time by the same device that performs the measurement, maintaining precision while eliminating redundant steps.
Data Source
AI summary
A probe interface component for a probe that measures an environmental condition. The probe interface component may comprise a first interface configured to removably receive a probe, and a second interface configured to removably connect to an input interface of a mobile computer. The probe interface component may be configured to obtain a value from the probe based on the measurement of the environmental condition, and generate a signal representative of the value in a format compatible with the input interface of the mobile computer. The first interface, the second interface, and/or the input interface may comprise a wireless interface. The environmental condition may comprise a temperature, a humidity, a pressure, a water quality, a gas indication, a radiation level, an indication of contamination, and/or an appearance.