SMARTPas: Cyber-physical system (CPS) for thermal disinfection of beverages using NIR sensor technology as a key technology

Due to increasing digitalisation, automation in the food industry has been driven forward in recent years in the areas of robotics, batch tracing and individual packaging tasks. Industry 4.0 uses (virtual) information processing processes in so-called cyber-physical systems (CPS) for deeper linking of material processes, objects and humans.

The aim of this joint project is the development of a CPS for the control of flash pasteurisation systems (sterilisation and preservation of beverages through the application of heat). This interdisciplinary project is intended to show that digitisation and modelling of products and processes make it possible to make a food processing process safer and cost-/resource-saving. For this purpose, the core idea of the CPS will be used: For product and process, prognostic models (i.e. virtual or "cyber" images of the real-world systems) will be created. These can be used to perform control-operations and optimisations. Synchronicity is ensured by machine learning and data analysis.