Martin Lishman Ltd.'s TuberLog Plus electronic potato monitor now provides instant alerts to problems with harvesting, grading and washing lines to customers using an app installed on a suitably equipped smartphone or tablet.
The device measures the shock loadings to which it is subjected as it passes along the line with the crop, then instantly transmits this information to the phone so operators can accurately identify the location and severity of the shock, and decide whether remedial work is needed.
Operators can select their own reporting thresholds, so small shocks show up as a green alert; intermediate shocks as orange and severe as red. Each alert is accompanied by a different audible alarm.
The headphones supplied with the Android device help operators to hear the warnings clearly and distinguish between the different alarm tones when working in noisy environments.
TuberLog is also fully waterproof and can therefore be buried among harvest-ready potatoes to check for problems in the harvesting process, or even run through washing facilities. It also measures the temperature, which can have a bearing on the tendency to bruise of some potato varieties.
This new version of the electronic potato measures shocks very accurately, enabling operators to assess how serious the problem is. This will help them decide how much remedial work to potato handling machinery is needed and-after it has been applied-test whether the work has been totally effective.