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Wireless stickers to detect food quality and safety
MIT researchers have developed an Artificial Intelligence (AI) based wireless system that can detect the quality and safety of food items. The system uses Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) tags or stickers with tiny, ultra-high frequency antennas on many food products to sense potential food contamination. The researchers feel that this is a democratic way to bring about food safety and quality in the hands of the consumers. When an RFID powers up and transmits its signal, it interacts with material in its near vicinity (i.e., inside a container) even if it is not in direct contact with that container. This interaction is called "near-field coupling," and it impacts the wireless signal transmitted by an RFID. The system, RFIQ extracts features from this signal and feeds it to a machine learning model that can classify and detect different types of adulterants in the container. An initial prototype of the system has been made and tested in two applications. The results have demonstrated the ability to identify fake alcohol with an accuracy higher than 97% and identify tainted infant formula with an accuracy higher than 96%.
