BTECH - Group thesis - SERVA 2.0
Background
In South Africa 30 million tons of food is produced annually with an appalling 10 million tons of food being wasted, we wanted to address this problem so we asked...
"How can the ripening process of fresh produce be slowed down in a home storage system, in order to lengthen the general lifespan and reduce food wastage?”.
The main factors we found that play a key role in the storage of fruit and vegetables are, ethylene production, bruising and temperature.
Concept
Our solution is the SERVA Fruit storage device is a simple yet effective storage container that not only keeps your fruit at the right temperature, it also features other built-in features that aid in lengthening the fruit lifespan.
The SERVA creates an environment whereby the Ethylene levels, temperature and humidity are controlled as these create the ideal environment, the SERVER unit will monitor the ethylene, temperature and humidity levels and activate various functions such as injecting moisture into the environment to up the humidity or activating the ventilation system to draw fresh air through the unit an expel ethylene.
Technical Specs
Humidity / Temperature
A DHT11 sensor is used to monitor the temperature and humidity of the environment and through the control unit signal the humidifier to inject water into the environment as well as signal the peltiers or fans to activate and cool the environment.
ethylene
A MA-7 sensor is used to monitor the ethylene levels and will give a signal to activate the ventilation system.
humidifier
The humidifier works alongside the other sensors aiding in a cooling or humidifying role.
User Interface
SERVA uses a simple and cleaan interface three varieties of status.
Left image shows the unit is on and the water is full.
Middle image shows the unit is on but water levels are low and needs to be refilled.
Right image shows the unit is off.
Outcome
The SERVA unit is calculated to extend the life expectancy of fresh products by up to a week, allowing many products to be kept for up to two weeks, without adding any chemical based preservatives.
