Now assess quality of your apples with help of 3D printed apples

Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, started a project involving the creation of a 3D-printed apple containing sensors that can track temperatures, motion and shocks which fruits are subjected to while they are in transit, reported TechCrunch.

The 3D-printed apple provides the look and feel of a real apple stimulating the actual weight, size and density so that handlers don't treat the box with special care and also ensure that it accurately represents an apple in the wild.

The first model involves an internal thermometer and some more sensors. This robotic apple then goes into transit with other apples and this allows the shippers to assess what happens to their fruit while they are transported.

The project appears in the Journal of Food Engineering and promises "A new fruit simulator engineered to closely match the thermal response of real fruit" and a system for "artificial fruit that can monitor fruit pulp thermal history throughout the entire cold chain.