Construction of Distributed Sensing System for Peristaltic Continuous Mixing Conveyor Simulating Intestines

-Internal State Measurement by Accelerometer-

Abstract

To mix and convey solid-liquid mixtures continuously, a peristaltic continuous mixing conveyor has been developed previously. This device imitates the movement of intestines by inflating a rubber tube using air pressure. We estimated the mixing degree of the contents via machine learning using data from pneumatic sensors, however, the accuracy was low. Therefore, in this study, to improve the sensing system, we installed an accelerometer that could measure the behavior of the rubber tube without any contact with the contents. The sensor angle was obtained from the accelerometer values for each input. We obtained different sensor angles with the rigid bodies and the powder-liquid mixtures. The results suggested that type of the contents can be determined by using the accelerometer.