SERVICES AND PRODUCTS

Bioimpedance equipment and software for assessing the condition of seedlings

Plant growers face continuous challenges in assessing, measuring, and protecting the external effects of environmental damage caused by seedlings storage. Traditionally, the viability of the trout, i.e. the marketability of the seedlings, has been assessed visually and by time-consuming growth tests. In practice, these means of assessment cause customer affirmations because the delivered timer may have significant amounts of non-viable, superficial individuals.

In storage, the environmental burden on the plant is generally: temperature changes, freezing, drought, flood, nutrient changes, environmental pollution, filamentous fungi, etc. In order to facilitate the assessment of viability and improve the quality of the evaluation, we have developed a measurement system that utilizes the electrolyte balance and measurable changes in the seedlings.

Our measurement system enables two modes of operation. The first use, i.e. a proactive and reactive way, is to measure the current state of the electrolyte balance of seedlings in the autumn before the frost and monitor its development during the autumn as the temperature drops to the frost. If the measurement shows that the seedlings are approaching the damage state, it is possible to make their protection before the damage occurs. Another mode of operation, i.e. the verification and screening method, is to perform the test of seedlings in the spring before the delivery of the plant lot to the customer, which prevents the claim and thus saves the aftercare costs, since defective and viable individuals can be easily separated.

With the help of the measurement system it is possible to save a large part of the plants with proactive protection (proactive and reactive) and significantly reduce the costs of the claims (securing and screening). With the help of the measurement system, up to 90% of the plants that are currently lost through losses can be saved.

Impedance equipment and software are also suitable for other applications requiring impedance determinations, such as the determination of humidity at various sites, and the determination of water phase changes (such as water vapor, water and ice) in the air and soil.

Impedance equipment and software for monitoring the drying (moisture) of concrete

The challenge for the concrete industry is to perform cost-efficient and high-quality monitoring of concrete drying. Traditionally, for example, coatings for wet spaces have been started by waiting for a sufficiently long time and hoping that it is dry enough. However, this is a challenging in practice, because the environmental conditions significantly affect the speed of the drying process.

Another way has been to drill holes in the concrete slab and then perform a moisture measurement. Drilling causes a hole in the structure, and it is virtually impossible to repeat the measurement and monitor the development of drying, especially after it has been coated. 

In addition, challenging concrete workpieces include large floors, walls and load-bearing structures, where the drying of concrete takes place only through one surface. The challenge is to find out when they are strong enough to allow the construction work to proceed to the next stage? In addition, there are also situations where, for example, a concrete slab requires aftercare, e.g. watering.

The measurement system we have developed helps to solve the above-mentioned problems by measuring the ion balance of concrete and its change during drying.

In the measurement system, the measuring electrodes are placed before certain drainage depths. The electrodes are cast inside the slab and the first measurement is made immediately after the casting. Drying of the cast is monitored by performing measurements at appropriate intervals. The measurement results provide accurate information on how the drying progresses and when a sufficient level of dryness is reached, the next stage of construction can be started immediately.

The method can also be utilized for continuous monitoring of the moisture of the concrete structure, where the measurement indicates that the moisture rises above a certain limit, it can be alarmed.

Uses for measuring system are

  • Monitoring of concrete drying
  • Continuous monitoring of moisture changes in damp areas, near water pipelines, kitchens, etc.
  • Ensuring the timeliness of concrete floor care; for example, in a situation where the surface threatens to dry too early, the tile is irrigated, which can prevent large cracks
  • Timely start-up of waterproofing and tiling in wet areas, which can prevent post-treatment costs, for example, by reducing repairs and claims.

 

With the help of the measurement system, it is possible to save a large part of the aftercare costs caused by the construction work that was started at the wrong time. Measuring can speed up the start of certain construction phases or help ensure reliably when the next step can be started.

Leaf area meter for monitoring leafy green

Today, the carbon sequestration capacity of flora has emerged in monitoring and managing the state of the environment. One such monitoring method is to measure the amount of chlorophyll. Chlorophyll adsorbs carbon dioxide in the air and reciprocally releases oxygen into the atmosphere, a process that uses the absorption of electromagnetic radiation or the adsorption of photons. The green color of the leaf is assumed to be associated with leaf green, i.e. chlorophyll.


Product development and
prototypes

Our core competence is
related to optical and electronic measurement technology and to the development
of solutions for our customers in connection with this industry. In addition,
we can implement the delivery of prototypes and production version devices and
programs on a turnkey basis.

Research
support and consultancy services

Our long experience of over 75 years consists of the University’s research and teaching assignments, and other related development projects, as well as process engineering and automation projects in the technology industry. In addition, we have carried out planning, project management and implementation, patenting and project finance procurement tasks related to the aforementioned tasks. We can provide the above services to our customers.