Smart sensors developed to monitor pear growth

Researchers from UHasselt and the fruit cultivation research center pcfruit have developed smart, stretchable sensors designed to monitor the growth of pears in real-time. The technology uses a highly elastic silicone material embedded with a conductive track made of Galinstan, an alloy of gallium, indium, and tin. As the fruit grows, the sensor stretches, changing its electrical resistance and allowing for the electronic tracking of diameter changes.

The system provides two primary functions. First, it can monitor young fruit to assist in the thinning process, ensuring that trees are not overloaded, which can lead to smaller, less valuable fruit. Second, sensors installed after thinning can track development until harvest. This data allows growers to observe growth dynamics and potentially adjust irrigation to optimize fruit size, which is particularly valuable during periods of extreme drought.

A wireless reading system has also been developed to automatically transmit data from the field to a database, creating a continuous growth time series for each monitored fruit. The system was tested this season in a pcfruit orchard in Sint-Truiden.