Smart foam shelves help supermarkets are always full

The shelves are fitted with a slim foam that recognizes when the product has been removed, and allows the cart to be automatically added. This smart touch foam is developed by European researchers.

Styrofoam is made from flexible polyolefin sheets, each one 1/4 millimeter thick and contains airbags for lightweight and resilient materials (the same material is still used for cushioning bags). package and waterproofing for pipes).

A grid of sensors can detect that goods are left on shelves. (Photo: NewScientist)

Siegfried Bauer of Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria and his colleagues have created cheap sensors for the foam panels by covering the silver paint on either side. These conductive paintings act as capacitors, containing some charge. When an object is placed on a porous surface, it produces a slight compression force, which changes the charge capacitance of the capacitor.

Each foam sensor can sense a minimum change of 10 grams of weight per square centimeter. A network of such sensors can detect the presence of a cereal box or a jar of soup due to its weight. When the shelf is out of stock, the sensor will detect it immediately.

This technology is currently being tested at a company. However, having it in the supermarket is a big deal. If you use silver, you will have to spend a few percent on the cost of making foam. If you replace the silver with copper, the sensors will cost about $ 1 / meter.

The new sponge can also be attached to other surfaces and objects to create a sense of touch, the team said.

T. An