Optical sensors

Optical sensing and measurements methods in agriculture, environmental monitoring, and food processing are convenient and widely accepted, since many biosystem fingerprints resign in the optical part of the spectrum. Optical wavelengths used in sensing, cover a wide band of electromagnetic radiation, starting from infrared radiation (20 – 0.8 µm), visible light (800 – 400 nm), and ending in ultraviolet (400 – 10 nm). Since each spectral band has different fields of application, we exploit all spectral bands.

Infrared radiation stimulates vibrations of larger molecules, which include most organic compounds, and thus provides vital information on the composition of a food, as well as the presence of pesticides and toxins in food and feed. In other words, the infrared analysis is the workhorse in organic material analysis, however the analytical instruments are still expensive and bulky. Therefore, we develop new, low-cost infrared detectors and work on their integration in small infrared spectrometers.

On the other hand, spectral signatures of plants are primarily related to the visible part of the spectrum, and they provide important information about the plant status and stress, and consequently about the soil. In that sense, we have developed an optical instrument for measurement of plant status based on the plant reflectance at four wavelengths, in visible and near infrared spectra.
Moreover, ultraviolet and visible part of spectrum are very indicative for the water and liquid food quality analysis. We develop an instrument for detection of pollutant and biochemical contamination of water in ultraviolet spectrum at 380 nm. Moreover, we focus on the development of sensors for juices adulteration detection, which will operate in the range 400-700 nm.

Projects:

WaQuMoS – Water Quality Monitoring System with Multi-Parameter IoT Sensor Nodes for
Proactive Water Resource Management, 2019-2022, E!13044

DIATOMIC Digital Innovation Hubs boosting European Microelectronics Industry H2020-ICT 2016-2017/H2020-ICT-2016-2MIMA, Diatomic

Development of the device for measurement and mapping of nitrogen as the most important parameter in sustainable agriculture, contract no. 114-451-2794/2016-03, funded by Provincial Secretariat for Higher Education and Scientific Research of Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Republic of Serbia.