Grainsense Measuring device User manual

GrainSense

User Manual

april 2019

ISSUE APRIL 2019

GRAINSENSE USER MANUAL

Imprint

Issue: 04.2019

Manufacturer

GrainSense Oy

Tutkijantie 9

90590 Oulu

Finland

Contact details can be found on the back page of this

manual.

Information

The information included in this manual corresponds

with our current state of knowledge and is no claim for

completeness. The recommended usage instructions are

non-binding.

Always refer to the latest version of the User Manual.

Declaration of conformity

GrainSense device comes with type label included.

It proves that the device conforms with applicable

regulations. The Declaration of Conformity is available

upon request.

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Table of contents

Imprint...................................................................... 2

Table of contents ............................................................ 3

1. Information for correct use ................................................. 5

1.1 Correct use ...............................................................5

1.2 Measurement errors ......................................................5

1.3 Exclusion of warranty .....................................................5

2. Products .................................................................. 6

2.1 The GrainSense device ....................................................7

2.1.1 Mode of function......................................................7

2.1.2 Scope of supply .......................................................7

2.1.3 Technical speciﬁcations ..............................................8

2.1.4 Overview of the device ................................................9

2.2 GrainSense cloud services ................................................10

2.2.1 GDPR Guidance .....................................................10

2.2.2 Data infrastructure and protection ....................................10

2.2.3 User registration .....................................................10

2.2.4 Data handling .......................................................11

2.2.4 User data control ....................................................11

2.3 Mobile application .......................................................11

2.4 Farmer DashBoard.......................................................11

3. Operation ................................................................ 12

3.1 Starting up ..............................................................12

3.1.1 Downloading the application from the app store ........................12

3.1.2 Registering to GrainSense cloud.......................................12

3.1.3 Login to an account ..................................................13

3.1. 4 Connecting the device and mobile phone ..............................13

3.1. 5 Conﬁguring the device ...............................................14

3.2 Requirements for reliable measurements ..................................14

3.3 Doing a measurement ...................................................15

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3.3.1 Sample size and placement of kernels on the tray ......................15

3.3.2 Measurement procedure .............................................16

3.3.2.1 Pairing the device and the phone ....................................17

3.3.2.2 Taking a measurement .............................................18

3.3.2.3 Viewing the results, adding notes and averaging and sharing results . . . 19

3.4 Maintenance and servicing ...............................................20

3.4.1 Updating the calibrations on the device ................................20

3.4.2 Replacing the batteries...............................................20

3.4.3 Cleaning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

3.4.4 Transport and storage ...............................................20

3.4.5 Disposal.............................................................20

4. Help ..................................................................... 21

4.1 Troubleshooting .........................................................21

4.2 FAQ .....................................................................22

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1. Information for correct use

Please read this user manual carefully before using the GrainSense

solution. Incorrect use of the GrainSense device can lead to wrong

measurements of grain quality which may affect decision making.

1.1 Correct use

The following points must be observed in order to use the device in a

correct manner:

• 3.2 Requirements for reliable measurements from Operation part

(page 14)

• Adherence to the maintenance and servicing instructions from (page 20)

The device can be used during light rain. The device must never be

completely soaked or immersed in water.

1.2 Measurement errors

Observe the following points in order to avoid incorrect measurements:

• Do not take measurements when kernels are green or unripened,

GrainSense calibration does not include green colors and

measurements results cannot be assured to be accurate in such case

• Do not perform all measurements on the same plant when measuring a

component average content for the ﬁeld

• Do not perform all measurements on a small area of the ﬁeld when

measuring a component average content for the ﬁeld

• Do not measure using an old calibration version, remember to connect

regularly the device to your phone to save data and update the latest

calibrations

• Do not measure if there is water/humidity on the tray as it will affect

moisture measurement

• Do not measure if batteries are too low, change the batteries every 50 to

150 measurements depending on battery quality and type of use

1.3 Exclusion of warranty

The manufacturer is not liable for the following damages to the device:

• Damage to the device following impacts or vibration

• Damage to the device resulting from penetrating moisture or dust

• Damage to the display resulting from pressure application and

scratches

• Malfunctions from cleaning the sample tray with cleaning agents

containing alcohol or other chemicals

• Damage caused by heat or intensive solar radiation: The device must

not be placed in the immediate vicinity of heat sources or be exposed to

direct sunlight

• Incorrect storage (see Transport and storage on page 20)

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The three pillars in the GrainSense system are connected as follows:

1. GrainSense Device measures and analyzes protein, moisture,

carbohydrates and oil contents from any calibrated species and

interacts with the GrainSense Mobile application via Bluetooth.

2. The mobile application connects with cloud account and uploads

calibration and other settings to the Device and measurements

results to the database.

3. A cloud-based database and API to store the measurement

results and provide updated calibrations to the Devices (via Mobile

application). The cloud services include the GrainSense Mobile App

and the Farmer Dashboard.

2. Products

The key components of the GrainSense solution are the GrainSense

device, mobile application, and cloud-based database.

GrainSense

Measuring

Device

GrainSense

Cloud

Services

GrainSense

Mobile App

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2.1 The GrainSense device

2.1.1 Mode of function

The technical principle of the device is based on near-infrared

spectroscopy by transmittance in the third overtone spectral range. This

technique has been available in labs for years, but GrainSense is the ﬁrst

that has been able to incorporate it into a handheld device.

Optical method comparison

2.1.2 Scope of supply

When buying a GrainSense device, the end-user receives a package that

includes the following content:

• GrainSense device

• AA batteries (installed)

• A set of 4 GrainSense sampling spoons

• Ofﬁcial Cap

• Carrying case

• Quick guide

Diffuse reﬂection

Traditional laboratory method

- Small fraction of the sample is

measured

- Requires expensive infrared

detectors

- Long measurement time

Diffuse transmission

Advanced laboratory method

- Wet sampling not possible

- Requires large sample

- Long measurement time

- Technology complicated for

portable and affordable

devices

GrainSense

360˚ light penetration method

(integration sphere)

+ Works with simpler and

more affordable technology

+ Device can be small

+ Enables small samples

+ Wider use than grain

as other types of samples

possible

+ Short measurements time

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2.1.3 Technical speciﬁcations

Technical speciﬁcations

Size Hand-held (footprint 270 mm x 115 mm)

Weight 820 grams (without batteries)

Batteries 6 x AA Alkaline (recommended to use batteries

designed for industrial/heavy use)

Battery operation 50 to 150 measurements depending on battery

quality and type of use

Measurement principle Near infrared transmittance spectroscopy

Sample size ≈ 3 grams (60–80 cereal kernels)

Measurement time About 30 seconds, including the device warm-up

and the user loading the sample

Species

E.g. wheat, barley, rye, oat and rapeseed

New species can be added according to needs /

Note: Species are country speciﬁc

Operational conditions +5 to +45 C

20 to 90 % RH (non condensing)

Storage temperature -10 to +60 C

Protection Designed for outdoor use - except raindrops on the

sample tray will affect the moisture result

Bluetooth LE 4.1

Language Multiple languages (based on ISO 8859-1 character

set)

Mobile application Android/iOS

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2.1.4 Overview of the device

GrainSense device is a handheld and battery-powered device which

measures grain kernels in the ﬁeld and determines protein (% dry

base), moisture (% wet base), carbohydrates (% dry base), and oil

(% dry base) contents. Those concentration units are default units for

cereals in European countries; calculation of percentages can be of any

combination of wet, dry or ﬁxed moisture.

The device has:

• A LCD display

• A dedicated power button

- Power off by pressing the button until the display turns off

• Up and down arrow buttons to select and change view content

- If arrows are shown in the screen

• A conﬁrmation button to move to the next phase of the

measurement process

• A Bluetooth LED to indicate a connection

- Blink: seeking connection

- Steady: connected

• A power LED to indicate battery levels

- Green: battery good

- Red: change batteries as soon as possible

Note! As batteries differ widely in performance, the LED color is a rough

indication and the user should change the batteries regularly (every 100

measurements).

AA batteriesLCD displayKernels

Integrated sphere

Sampling tray

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2.2 GrainSense cloud services

Grainsense gathers data of all registered users to:

• Provide calibration and other data to users and their devices

• Verify account status and level

• Store all measured data to provide an access to it from different

devices and backup

• Communicate any issues, guidance or other important messages

Grainsense gathers the following information:

• User details: email, address, phone number, profession

• Measurement results with user id, GPS location, time and date, and

notes

2.2.1 GDPR Guidance

GDPR is active after 25.5.2018 and involves all companies handling data

from EU citizens. Data controllers (i.e. company) and data processors

(company or subcontractor) are required to comply and give more power

to a person regarding his data, that includes to:

• Ask explicit consent for all different data types (GPS, email marketing,

etc), describe how to data is used and for what purpose

• Allow users to control the data (delete and export)

Companies must also have an internal guidance (this chapter of the

User Manual) on GDPR.

Note! GrainSense is fully compliant with GDPR.

2.2.2 Data infrastructure and protection

Grainsense acts as a data controller and processor, but for processing,

it uses outsourced infrastructure (Amazon AWS). Graisense has taken

measures to protect user data by:

• Applying standard encrypted HTTPS (TLS) communication

• Using proper authorization and authentication methods

• Using enterprise level framework (Java Spring)

• Taking nightly backups of the data (last 30 days)

• Limiting admin rights to the databases (two key persons have access

to user’s personal data)

2.2.3 User registration

The user registers to Grainsense cloud via the web registration wizard

(www.grainsense.com/register). The user is asked to ﬁll personal details,

which some are optional, in the end, the user is asked to consent to:

*Terms of use and privacy policy are compliant to GDPR

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2.2.4 Data handling

The user’s personal data is used for authorization/authentication and

for communicating with the user. The user’s measured data is used for:

• Giving the user access to all his measurement data via multiple

devices (User has only access to his own data)

• Calculating statistical analyses of the user-speciﬁc data, and to

showing it only to the user itself

• Calculating higher level statistical data of a speciﬁc reason

(anonymized) and providing it to all users

2.2.4 User data control

The user has a way to delete and export all data by sending a request

to [email protected] from the account email address (At a later

point user will be able to do this via web portal). Deletion is made by

completely anonymizing the user data: User details (email, address,

etc) are anonymized and GPS locations changed. However, measured

data itself is not deleted and will be used for statistical purposes.

2.3 Mobile application

GrainSense provides a mobile application for iOS and Android

platforms. The applications communicate with the device via Bluetooth

and with the cloud database via REST API. They download calibration

and user settings from the cloud and send measurement results back.

When launching the app, it synchronizes with the cloud. The app

contains 5 main pages:

1. Measurements: The app main page is “Measurements” page and

allows the user to access any of the previous measurement he did.

2. Device: Allows the user to connect the device to the phone by

selecting “Connect device”, change the language of the App and

device and select calibrations.

3. Account: Details about user´s account (email, ﬁrst name, last

name, phone number), allows the user to change the password

4. Guides: Give straight access to the Quick Guide and to the FAQ

5. Contact: Primary contract and technical support email

2.4 Farmer DashBoard

The Farmer Dashboard is a great web tool to analyse and manage the

measurements on computer or tablet.

Visit it at https://dashboard.grainsense.com/. Use the same login

and password than for logging in the App. The Farmer Dashboard also

allows the user to export the data via an .xls or .csv ﬁle.

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3. Operation

Note! Multiple videos including tutorials and testimonials can be found

on the GrainSense youtube channel (www.youtube.com/channel/

UCFhTX9bab5gHfvbz2G8ABUA).

3.1 Starting up

The procedure to start the device and the measuring principle are

explained in the Quick Guide booklet available in the device´s bag.

Starting out the device

The setup includes the following phases:

1. Unboxing the package

2. Downloading the application from the app store

3. Registration to the cloud service

4. Login for the ﬁrst time

5. Connecting to the device

6. Conﬁguring the device

7. Doing the ﬁrst measurement

8. Viewing the results from the phone

3.1.1 Downloading the application from the app store

GrainSense device requires a mobile phone with Bluetooth LE

connectivity and an application to conﬁgure the device and store the

results. GrainSense application is available at ofﬁcial Google Play and

iOS app stores. Search using “grainsense”.

Download and install the app for compatible Android (OS 6.0 or higher)

and iOS (OS 9.0 or higher) phones.

3.1.2 Registering to GrainSense cloud

Registration is done via separate web application at

www.grainsense.com/register. There are several ways to do

the registration.

1. Open the application from the app on the phone and click “Not yet

registered?” link

a. A web browser is opened from the phone, ﬁll in the details

2. Open a laptop or tablet and go to the registration URL

a. www.grainsense.com/register

Follow the instructions in the registration application. Add an email and

a password, input a conﬁrmation token that is sent to the email address.

You have now registered an account successfully.

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3.1.3 Login to an account

After successful registration, the user can open the app and log in using

the email and password provided in the registration application.

If you have already registered, add your email and password and login.

All previously measured data should update from the cloud to the

application.

3.1. 4 Connecting the device and mobile phone

See 3.3.2.1 Pairing the device and the phone (page 17)

Note! The connection to the device can always be disconnected or

re-connected from the app, left menu and “Device”.

Note! The initial connection can be skipped using the link in the upper

right corner.

Note! Some Android phones have known issues with Bluetooth (e.g.

Huawei and HTC). It is important to have a backup solution if the

connection does not work. Grainsense recommends Samsung Android

phones Galaxy Xcover 4 as an alternative phone.

Note! Device must be shut down and restarted when the initial setup

conﬁguration is uploaded from the phone.

Note! During the registration a veriﬁcation token is sent to the user’s

email address, so the user must have a way to check email during

registration.

Note! Please select the country in which you will use the GrainSense

device, this is important for receiving the right calibration updates.

Account registration Please ﬁll your personal details

1/5

First name

Address Zip code City

Telephone

Company name (optional) Business (VAT) id (optional) - see guide

Country (imoirtant to select correctly!)

Afghanistan

Last name

BACK NEXT

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3.1. 5 Conﬁguring the device

Please connect to the device ﬁrst with the mobile application (see 3.3.2.1

Pairing the device and the phone, page 17).

All conﬁgurations are uploaded automatically to the device when

changed.

Note! You can select a maximum of four species to be uploaded and

stored in the device.

3.2 Requirements for reliable measurements

The cornerstones to get reliable measurements with the GrainSense

device are representative samples and a correct use of the device (see

3.3 Doing a measurement, page 15).

Obtaining a representative sample from a lot of grain is an important

and essential part of the grain inspection process. If the sample is not

representative, the ﬁnal quality results will not reﬂect the true quality of

the lot.

In the ﬁeld

• In order to obtain a representative average reading, the measurements

must be carried out randomly distributed across the ﬁeld.

• When measuring, avoid any atypical areas of the ﬁeld (e.g. areas with

distinctly different soil properties, such as sand banks or similar)!

From the truck/silo

Different guides about grain sampling already exist, including:

• AHDB, UK: Grain sampling guide for cereals and oilseeds.

• USDA, USA: Grain Inspection Handbook - Book I - Sampling.

Note! It is not GrainSense’s role to provide a sampling guide, only advice

can be given.

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3.3 Doing a measurement

Please follow the quick guide to do the ﬁrst measurement, the

measurement procedure is also detailed below.

3.3.1 Sample size and placement of kernels on the tray

For most cereals, the size of the sample should be about 60–80 kernels

corresponding to 3–5 grams. When kernels are bigger, the number

of kernels can be reduced. For rapeseed, the amount of seed should

correspond to about 2g. (Figure)

The user can use the grain measurement cup to sample the right amount

of grains. If you are using the older GrainSense yellow measurement cup,

only a thin layer of grain covering the bottom of the spoon is enough. For

a more precise sampling, use the set of GrainSense spoons and choose

the proper spoon size according to the grain type selected (2,5ml for

rapeseed and 5ml for cereals: wheat, barley, oats and rye). The device

will also tell you rather the sample is too big or too small with an error

message. In this case, take the sample away from the tray and start from

the begin (as for a new measurement).

When taking measurements from a larger batch of grain, it is important

to remember the following:

• Make sure the subsample taken has come from a larger sample that

has been mixed as well as possible.

• For better results, it may be best to take more than one subsample

and average the results together in the app.

• Try to avoid any foreign matter from being placed on the tray in

addition to the species being tested.

Species Sample Size Placement

Wheat 3g Even spread across tray

Barley 3g Even spread across tray

Oats 3g Even spread across tray

Rye 3g Even spread across tray

Rape Seed 2g Towards bottom of tray, non overlapping

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3.3.2 Measurement procedure

Please note:

• Use the appropriate spoon for getting the right amount of kernel on the

tray

• Place the sample nicely on the tray so kernels are not overlapping

• Keep the measurement device straight in your hand and avoid moving

during the measurement (when the light is sent)

• Intensive solar radiation can inﬂuence the result. Hold the GrainSense

device so that it is covered by the shadow of your body in extreme

conditions

• Make sure the sampling tray is well engaged

How the tray should be loaded:

Barley Oat

Rye Rapeseed

Wheat

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3. Click “Connect to device” from the application

a. The application should discover and connect the device

b. Conﬁgurations are uploaded automatically

3.3.2.1 Pairing the device and the phone

1. Open the GrainSense application, go to “device” in the menu

a. Make sure that Bluetooth is enabled

2. Power on the device

Device found

Connected to the GrainSense device.

Conﬁguring device... (21%)

Searching for device

Searching for the GrainSense device.

Make sure that the Bluetooth light is

blinking.

Annuler

Device

Connection

No device connected

Please connect the device to start measuring.

Turn on Bluetooth on your smartphone.

Turn on the GrainSense device.

Connect device

Syncing...

Done!

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During the ﬁrst login the application will ask to connect with the

device:

1. Power the device and wait until the display says “Updating

settings…”.

2. Click “Connect” from the application to connect to the device

a. This might take up to 20 seconds

3. The application displays a successful connection and

automatically updates the initial settings to the device

4. User can go to “Device” and changed the device and app language

5. User can go to “Device” and add more calibrations

3.3.2.2 Taking a measurement

1. Power the device by pushing the power on button.

2. Select the type of grain you want to measure from the device

a. Use arrows up and down to change option

b. If the grain type is not available, conﬁgure the device ﬁrst

(see 3.4.1 Updating the calibrations on the device)

3. Check that the sphere is empty and close it carefully

4. Click conﬁrm button to start

a. Wait until the reference measurement has been done

b. Note! The sphere should be empty during the reference

measurement.

Note! If you opened the sphere while the reference was

taken, shut off the device and start from the beginning.

5. Open the sphere and insert a small amount of grain (see 3.3.1

Sampling size and placement of kernels on the tray)

6. Close the sphere and click the conﬁrm button

7. View results using up and down arrows

8. Click conﬁrm to send results to a mobile phone or discard the

results

a. If not connected to a mobile phone, then results are not

stored

Note! You can carry in your GrainSense bag, a sample of grains that

has known protein and moisture content. You can verify that the

device works properly once in a while.

Select button

Power button

Up button

Down button

Device

Connection

Language

Calibrations

Device

Device connected

SW version: 2.0.1 Disconnect

Barley

Wheat

Select calibrations

English

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Note! Grainsense application automatically stores location information

of every measurement if location rights are granted to the application.

The measurement location corresponds to the location of the phone.

Note! The device has no memory to store any results.

3.3.2.3 Viewing the results, adding notes and averaging and sharing results

For viewing the results