Edinburgh-based agri-tech innovator, Crover, has made a significant breakthrough in the field of grain quality monitoring with the development of a groundbreaking robotic sensing technology. With the help of funding from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and Innovate UK’s Farming Innovation Programme, Crover has successfully created a Proof of Concept (PoC) miniaturised nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) sensor to identify contamination in grain bulks.
Cereal grains are a fundamental component of staple diets worldwide. However, a staggering one quarter of the global food supply is contaminated with mycotoxins, dangerous toxic substances emitted by certain types of moulds. These mycotoxins not only spoil the produce but also have a detrimental impact on the quality and supply of grain. Crover’s innovative product allows farmers, grain storage operators, traders, and aggregators to efficiently and remotely monitor and maintain the quality of their grain.
The latest version of Crover’s robot, equipped with the NMR sensor, is capable of swimming through grain bulks and identifying concentrations of mycotoxins at different points within the bulk. This cutting-edge system enables the detection of issues that may not be represented in traditional lab-based measurements, allowing for early intervention and control of contaminated areas. As a result, the rest of the bulk can be saved from spoilage.
Duncan Ross, Business Development Manager for Crops and Horticulture at Agri-EPI Centre, expressed his satisfaction with the collaboration between Crover and his organization. He stated, “We are pleased to have been working with Crover on this project, developing sensor capability on a mobile platform to measure toxins in grain bulks, improving the long-term storage of grain. This enhances the work completed in previous projects of sampling grain, addressing the health and safety risks with staff taking manual samples.”
In addition to developing the core electronics and NMR system, Crover has been working diligently to fine-tune the sensitivity of the sensor to specific toxins, such as Ochratoxin A, and eliminate background noise. Lorenzo Conti, Founder and Managing Director at Crover, expressed his delight at the progress made, saying, “We are delighted to have been working with Agri-EPI Centre and Dyson Farming, thanks to Innovate UK support, on the feasibility study of a portable NMR sensor. This is potentially the most challenging project we have taken on to date, but from which we see very long-term benefits for the grain supply chain as a whole and a potential for wider applications.”
Currently, sensors suitable for in-situ measurement of grain bulks only exist for temperature, moisture, and CO2 levels. Other important parameters, such as mycotoxins and proteins, require samples to be collected and analyzed in laboratories. Crover’s project marks the first step towards bringing modern grain lab analyses to the site and into the bulk, through the use of advanced portable sensing capabilities.
This groundbreaking development by Crover has the potential to revolutionize the grain industry by significantly improving grain quality monitoring and reducing the risk of mycotoxin contamination. With the ability to detect and control contamination early on, farmers and other stakeholders in the grain supply chain can ensure the delivery of safe and high-quality grain to consumers. The implications of this technology extend far beyond the grain industry, opening up possibilities for wider applications in the future.