David Sarriá

A Review on Agri-food Supply Chain Traceability by Means of RFID Technology

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a technology which provides appealing opportunities to improve the management of information flow within the supply chain and security in the agri-food sector. Nowadays, food safety is considered a major requirement in several countries, in particular, the traceability of food products which is mandatory by law. Thus, technological implementation leading to traceability strengthening in the agri-food sector is crucial. The first aim of this review is to analyze the current developments in RFID technology in the agri-food sector, through an operative framework which organizes the literature and facilitate a quick content analysis identifying future research direction. RFID technology seems to be able to bring great opportunities to this sector; nevertheless, several constraints are slowing its adoption. This survey may provide readers with an exhaustive overview of opportunities and constraints for the wide adoption of RFID. The second aim of this review is to provide an updated analysis on the current developments of RFID technology for different product typologies within the agri-food industry, discussing at the same time its potential in technological and logistical development regarding different sectors of the production/distribution chain. As referenced here, RFID implementations in the agri-food sector are increasing at a fast rate, and technological advancement follows the applicability opportunities. However, real applications of RFID technologies are still limited because of various technical and economical obstacles which are also discussed.

A new tracking system for the measurement of diel locomotor rhythms in the Norway lobster, Nephrops norvegicus (L.)

The Norway lobster, Nephrops norvegicus (L.), is a deep-water burrowing decapod of high commercial value. Diel variations in trawl captures are produced by population rhythms of burrow emergences related to day-night cycles. Rhythms seem to be different in males and females since catches show variations in sex ratios depending on the season. Our hypothesis is that the diel rhythm of activity in this species can be distinguished in three different behavioural sets, the durations of which show gender-related modulation: door-keeping, proximal-, and distal-emergence from the burrow. Our aim is to detail the functioning of a new tracking system allowing the durations of these three behavioural components to be determined. Movement of animals was detected by subdividing aquaria into different zones by means of three rows of infrared-emitting and -receiving photodiodes in which blue light emitters were also integrated for the generation of light cycles. We recorded movement patterns in adult males and females (n=20) exposed to a standard photoperiod regime (i.e., 12 h; monochromatic at 480 nm of 5 lx) over 12 days. Marked diel nocturnal rhythms were reported at all barriers, with activity peaks diffused over the night at the burrow entrance and located at the day-night transition at other barriers (i.e., crepuscular peaks that decreased in the next few hours of darkness). Mean total activity was significantly higher for females than males at the burrow entrance (i.e., door-keeping behaviour). Males had significantly higher activity at other locations (proximal- and distal-emergence behaviours).

A New Laboratory Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) System for Behavioural Tracking of Marine Organisms

Radio frequency identification (RFID) devices are currently used to quantify several traits of animal behaviour with potential applications for the study of marine organisms. To date, behavioural studies with marine organisms are rare because of the technical difficulty of propagating radio waves within the saltwater medium. We present a novel RFID tracking system to study the burrowing behaviour of a valuable fishery resource, the Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus L.). The system consists of a network of six controllers, each handling a group of seven antennas. That network was placed below a microcosm tank that recreated important features typical of Nephrops’ grounds, such as the presence of multiple burrows. The animals carried a passive transponder attached to their telson, operating at 13.56 MHz. The tracking system was implemented to concurrently report the behaviour of up to three individuals, in terms of their travelled distances in a specified unit of time and their preferential positioning within the antenna network. To do so, the controllers worked in parallel to send the antenna data to a computer via a USB connection. The tracking accuracy of the system was evaluated by concurrently recording the animals’ behaviour with automated video imaging. During the two experiments, each lasting approximately one week, two different groups of three animals each showed a variable burrow occupancy and a nocturnal displacement under a standard photoperiod regime (12 h light:12 h dark), measured using the RFID method. Similar results were obtained with the video imaging. Our implemented RFID system was therefore capable of efficiently tracking the tested organisms and has a good potential for use on a wide variety of other marine organisms of commercial, aquaculture, and ecological interest.

Control and acquisition system design for an Expandable Seafloor Observatory (OBSEA)

Design of the control unit for the OBSEA seafloor observatory based on a 32 bit microcontroller with SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) communication.

Studying the behaviour of Norway lobster using RFID and infrared tracking technologies

Different solutions are presented to study species in laboratory. The proposed designs used infrared and RFID technology to locate and track the species in the zone of analysis, the data is processed to extract information about their activity and behaviour.

Geophone calibration by means of hyperbaric chamber

This work proposes the use of a hyperbaric chamber in order to verify and validate the calibration in a marine geophone sensor before and after the pressure underwater laboratory test. The focused objective is the behavior respect to frequency of coupling between the geophone and the sediment to characterize its transfer function. The calibration of the 3 axes of the geophone up on the sediment box are made with a shaker table. We can observe the variations of coupling sensibility of the sensors of the geophone work through the sediment after the test inside the hyperbaric chamber at 20 atmospheres of water pressure.