A Device for elasticity detection of beef

Abstract. A device with hardware and software systems was designed for elasticity detection of beef. The hardware consists of microcontroller control module, lifting device, data acquisition module, probe module. The software system was designed in LabVIEW development environment including data processing program, communication with the PC section and real-time image display program. The device can be used to detect the elastic force data of beef sample by a pressure sensor. The developed software can be used for data acquisition and processing, by which the elastic force data is sent to the PC for processing by microcontroller control unit (MCU). The elastic force changes with time is real-time displayed by software. The elastic force data is stored by software for subsequent model analysis. The device possesses the characteristic of functional diversification, in which the corresponding module, such as puncture probe, bulb probe and plane probe, can be replaced according to different experimental requirements. Finally, a series of tests was carried out, and the result showed that the device could display the pressure-time curve and save the experimental data in real time. The correlation between the device and the texture analyzer reached 90.18%, which proved that the device is stable and reliable.