Monitoring Fruit Stress in Apple Grading Industrial Processes with Low-Power IoT Sensor

The Internet of Things (IoT) has significantly transformed multiple sectors, enabling enhanced connectivity between devices for efficient information sharing and minimal resource use. The agri-food supply chain is the sector that can benefit more from IoT technology to maintain product quality from initial harvest to final delivery to consumers. In this article, we present an IoT-based solution to monitor apple stress during the industrial selection process. The sensor, designed to mimic the core of a real apple, is equipped to record impacts in real-time as the apples undergo washing, photographic analysis, and sorting. The system records the direction and intensity of impacts and the distribution of these critical impacts at various stages of the production line to identify the area within the production line that was most likely to cause damage to the apples.