During the business needs analysis of Dolceamaro srl (a company from Molise and one of the leading competitors in the production of confetti in Italy) it shows that in the phase of almond peeling (which is currently done by immersing the almonds in boiling water) there is a critical point, which leads to a 50% loss of product due to the breakage of almonds. Please note that the almond is made of two halves, which with the current peeling method (peeling in water and subsequent drying in the oven) they tend to separate. Therefore, as described, it represents an economic loss for the company and as a result it will have to use a larger quantity of raw material (almonds) to satisfy the product demand (confetti).
Our idea was to improve the production process of almond peeling through innovative technologies, in order to reduce the percentage of product waste.
Students of the ITS V cycle, AgriOIL 4.0 course, supported by experts from the companies Dolceamaro srl and Sensor ID (experts in the design and production of IOT devices (Internet of Things), elaborated the idea of experimenting innovative technologies for the peeling phase of almonds. The performances of the single technologies have been experimented and compared with commercial instruments. The MPV (Minimum Viable Product) prototype, which will be exhibited at the Maker Faire Rome 2019, was designed with the use of non-invasive technologies, currently used in the biomedical field, to be used in the phase of almond peeling, without causing them to break and greatly reducing product waste.