Feasibility of the IoT for domestic refrigerators, food safety and waste
Feasibility of the IoT for domestic refrigerators, food safety and waste
Led by: The University of Lincoln
With partners: Tesco plc, Food Refrigeration and Process Engineering Research Centre (FRPERC), Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education (http://www.grimsby.ac.uk/)
Project lead: Simon Pearson, Principal Lecturer in Agricultural Technology
He has a background in research and industry and has a good understanding of academic, industrial and consumer-facing issues associated with food.
Overview
This is a multi-disciplinary project combining the food quality and refrigeration expertise of the National Centre for Food Manufacturing (University of Lincoln) and the Food Refrigeration and Process Engineering Research Centre, Grimsby Institute. A data logger will be provided to 200 Tesco consumer panellists to record the temperature performance of their refrigerators over 14 days. Sensors will be positioned to capture behaviour patterns such as loading un-chilled food and frequency of door opening etc. Panellists will also record food purchases and disposal as waste including dates. This is one of the most significant studies of its kind for the last twenty years and results will be compared with similar domestic fridges measured in laboratory conditions.
In parallel with this an app will be developed to explore how IoT technology combined with official guidance and recommendations can help support consumers in more efficient use of their fridges both in terms of food safety but also energy efficiency in the home. It is anticipated that the results of this work could help provide insight into the development of smarter fridges in the future as well as reducing food waste through more efficient management of food storage in the home.
