THz imaging for recycling of black plastics
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Andries Küter
Andries Küter received his Dipl.-Ing. degree in IT-Security from Ruhr-University Bochum in 2014. He works at the Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques FHR as a digital design engineer and project manager and since Jan. 2017 as group leader of the team “Embedded Systems and Algorithms”, where his primary research interest are fast backend systems for multichannel radar sensors and embedded algorithms. Furthermore, his interests include RF-based materials characterization. He currently focuses on efficient implementation and parallelization of digital radar signal processing on multichannel radar systems.
Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques FHR, Fraunhoferstr. 20, 53343 Wachtberg, Germany; and Ruhr-University Bochum, Chair for Integrated Systems InSys, Universitätsstraße 150, 44801 Bochum, Germany
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Stefan Reible
Stefan Reible received the Master degree in electrical engineering with the focus on communication and high frequency technology at Aachen University of Applied Sciences, Germany, in 2015. From 2013 to 2015, he was involved in industrial hardware development and antenna design at LANCOM Systems GmbH in Aachen. In 2015 he joined Fraunhofer FHR for his master thesis. After graduation, he started to work at Fraunhofer FHR in the department of Integrated Circuits and Sensor Systems (ISS). His field of expertise includes the hardware development of multi-channel sensors in millimeter wave range for in-line production systems. Furthermore, he is involved in the research of UAV detection using compact and modular radar systems.
Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques FHR, Fraunhoferstr. 20, 53343 Wachtberg, Germany
Thomas Geibig studied computer science at Rheinische Friedrichs-Wilhelms-Universität in Bonn where he received his diploma degree in 2011. His main research-interest is the design of application specific digital circuits and embedded systems with FPGAs. He started working at Fraunhofer FHR in 2011 and is since then concerned with the design and programming of FPGA-based hardware-platforms for generation, acquisition and processing of radar signals.
Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques FHR, Fraunhoferstr. 20, 53343 Wachtberg, Germany
Dirk Nüßler (FhG-FHR) received the Dipl-Ing. degree in electrical engineering from the University in Siegen in 1994. In 1995 he joined the Institute for High Frequency Physic and Radar Technique in Wachtberg. He investigated phased array systems for and was involved in the development of planar antenna concepts, millimeter wave radar sensors and Rotman lenses for 100 GHz and 220 GHz. From 2000 to 2005 he joined the workgroup mmW radiometer and was engaged in projects for passive portal and security scanners. In 2005 he started to build up a new group for industrial measurement systems. From 2007 to 2016 he was the head of the workgroup “Industrial Measurement Technology”, since 2009 he is the speaker of the business unit “Production” and since 2017 head of the department for “Integrated Circuits and Sensors”. In the last 20 years he was responsible for more than 30 research projects. He is author and co-author of more than 80 scientific papers.
Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques FHR, Fraunhoferstr. 20, 53343 Wachtberg, Germany
Nils Pohl received the Dipl.-Ing. and Dr.-Ing. degrees in electrical engineering from Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany, in 2005 and 2010, respectively. He was a Research Assistant with Ruhr University Bochum from 2006 to 2011, where he was involved in integrated circuits for millimeter-wave (mm-wave) radar applications. In 2011, he became Assistant Professor at Ruhr University Bochum and, additionally, in 2013, he became Head of the Department of Millimeter Wave Radar and High Frequency Sensors at the Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques, Wachtberg, Germany. In 2016, he became full Professor for Integrated Systems at the Ruhr-University Bochum. His main fields of research are concerned with ultra-wideband millimeter-wave radar, design and optimization of mm-wave integrated SiGe circuits and system concepts with frequencies up to 240 GHz and above, as well as frequency synthesis and antennas. He is the author or coauthor of more than 100 scientific papers and has issued several patents. Prof. Pohl is a member of VDE, ITG, EUMA, URSI and a senior member of the IEEE. He was a co-recipient of the 2009 EEEfCom Innovation Award, the 2012 EuMIC Prize and the 2015 best demo award of the IEEE Radio Wireless Week. In 2013 he received the Karl-Arnold Award of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts.
Ruhr-University Bochum, Chair for Integrated Systems InSys, Universitätsstraße 150, 44801 Bochum, Germany; and Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques FHR, Fraunhoferstr. 20, 53343 Wachtberg, Germany
Abstract
This paper presents the development of a novel line-camera device in the lower THz-domain which is capable of measuring minute differences in broadband spectral fingerprints of non-conducting materials. The primary focus is sorting black plastics in industrial recycling contexts, where large scale sorting of different types of black plastics remains a challenge. The system operates between 84 GHz and 96 GHz. As the relevant plastics exhibit no specific absorption lines in this frequency range, a broadband approach is necessary to accumulate slight differences in dielectric properties. Using this technique, enough entropy can be gathered that a machine learning algorithm can be trained to differentiate between different materials. This has to work even in the presence of contaminants such as flame retardants, color pigments and dirt. Preliminary results suggest that the THz sensor system is capable of achieving these goals.
Zusammenfassung
In diesem Paper wird die Entwicklung einer neuartigen Zeilenkamera für den niedrigen Terahertz-Bereich vorgestellt, mit der es möglich ist, minimale Unterschiede in breitbandigen Spektralsignaturen nichtleitender Stoffe zu messen. Der primäre Fokus liegt in der Anwendung in industrialisierten Recyclingprozessen für schwarze Kunststoffe, in denen das großskalige sortenreine Trennen verschiedener Kunststoffgruppen eine Herausforderung darstellt. Das System arbeitet im Frequenzbereich zwischen 84 GHz und 96 GHz. Da industriell relevante Kunststoffsorten in diesem Spektralbereich keine signifikanten Absorptionslinien aufweisen, müssen über breitbandige Ansätze kleinste Unterschiede in den dielektrischen Eigenschaften der Materialien zusammengeführt werden. Über das komplette betrachtete Band kannn so hinreichende Entropie für das Anlernen eines Machine-Learning-Klassifikators gesammelt werden. Dieser muss weiterhin trotz möglicher Verunreinigungen durch Flammhemmer, Farbpigmente und weitere Schmutzpartikel zuverlässige Ergebnisse liefern können. Bereits erzielte Erfolge deuten darauf hin, dass das THz-Sensorsystem diese Ziele erreichen kann.
About the authors
Andries Küter received his Dipl.-Ing. degree in IT-Security from Ruhr-University Bochum in 2014. He works at the Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques FHR as a digital design engineer and project manager and since Jan. 2017 as group leader of the team “Embedded Systems and Algorithms”, where his primary research interest are fast backend systems for multichannel radar sensors and embedded algorithms. Furthermore, his interests include RF-based materials characterization. He currently focuses on efficient implementation and parallelization of digital radar signal processing on multichannel radar systems.
Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques FHR, Fraunhoferstr. 20, 53343 Wachtberg, Germany; and Ruhr-University Bochum, Chair for Integrated Systems InSys, Universitätsstraße 150, 44801 Bochum, Germany
Stefan Reible received the Master degree in electrical engineering with the focus on communication and high frequency technology at Aachen University of Applied Sciences, Germany, in 2015. From 2013 to 2015, he was involved in industrial hardware development and antenna design at LANCOM Systems GmbH in Aachen. In 2015 he joined Fraunhofer FHR for his master thesis. After graduation, he started to work at Fraunhofer FHR in the department of Integrated Circuits and Sensor Systems (ISS). His field of expertise includes the hardware development of multi-channel sensors in millimeter wave range for in-line production systems. Furthermore, he is involved in the research of UAV detection using compact and modular radar systems.
Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques FHR, Fraunhoferstr. 20, 53343 Wachtberg, Germany
Thomas Geibig studied computer science at Rheinische Friedrichs-Wilhelms-Universität in Bonn where he received his diploma degree in 2011. His main research-interest is the design of application specific digital circuits and embedded systems with FPGAs. He started working at Fraunhofer FHR in 2011 and is since then concerned with the design and programming of FPGA-based hardware-platforms for generation, acquisition and processing of radar signals.
Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques FHR, Fraunhoferstr. 20, 53343 Wachtberg, Germany
Dirk Nüßler (FhG-FHR) received the Dipl-Ing. degree in electrical engineering from the University in Siegen in 1994. In 1995 he joined the Institute for High Frequency Physic and Radar Technique in Wachtberg. He investigated phased array systems for and was involved in the development of planar antenna concepts, millimeter wave radar sensors and Rotman lenses for 100 GHz and 220 GHz. From 2000 to 2005 he joined the workgroup mmW radiometer and was engaged in projects for passive portal and security scanners. In 2005 he started to build up a new group for industrial measurement systems. From 2007 to 2016 he was the head of the workgroup “Industrial Measurement Technology”, since 2009 he is the speaker of the business unit “Production” and since 2017 head of the department for “Integrated Circuits and Sensors”. In the last 20 years he was responsible for more than 30 research projects. He is author and co-author of more than 80 scientific papers.
Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques FHR, Fraunhoferstr. 20, 53343 Wachtberg, Germany
Nils Pohl received the Dipl.-Ing. and Dr.-Ing. degrees in electrical engineering from Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany, in 2005 and 2010, respectively. He was a Research Assistant with Ruhr University Bochum from 2006 to 2011, where he was involved in integrated circuits for millimeter-wave (mm-wave) radar applications. In 2011, he became Assistant Professor at Ruhr University Bochum and, additionally, in 2013, he became Head of the Department of Millimeter Wave Radar and High Frequency Sensors at the Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques, Wachtberg, Germany. In 2016, he became full Professor for Integrated Systems at the Ruhr-University Bochum. His main fields of research are concerned with ultra-wideband millimeter-wave radar, design and optimization of mm-wave integrated SiGe circuits and system concepts with frequencies up to 240 GHz and above, as well as frequency synthesis and antennas. He is the author or coauthor of more than 100 scientific papers and has issued several patents. Prof. Pohl is a member of VDE, ITG, EUMA, URSI and a senior member of the IEEE. He was a co-recipient of the 2009 EEEfCom Innovation Award, the 2012 EuMIC Prize and the 2015 best demo award of the IEEE Radio Wireless Week. In 2013 he received the Karl-Arnold Award of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts.
Ruhr-University Bochum, Chair for Integrated Systems InSys, Universitätsstraße 150, 44801 Bochum, Germany; and Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques FHR, Fraunhoferstr. 20, 53343 Wachtberg, Germany
©2017 Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Optical characterization of materials 2017
- Beiträge
- Considering spectral variability for optical material abundance estimation
- Automatic detection of fused tungsten carbides for the characterization of welding process
- Durchführbarkeitsstudie zur Inline-Überwachung der Wärmeleitfähigkeit und der strukturellen Qualität von Kunststoffen im Heißextrusionsprozess mittels Infrarot-Thermographie
- Non-invasive assessment of the bioburden of minced pork using a hand-held fluorescence device
- Evaluation and comparison of NIR multi-product calibration methods for Brix prediction
- THz imaging for recycling of black plastics
- Motion-based material characterization in sensor-based sorting
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Optical characterization of materials 2017
- Beiträge
- Considering spectral variability for optical material abundance estimation
- Automatic detection of fused tungsten carbides for the characterization of welding process
- Durchführbarkeitsstudie zur Inline-Überwachung der Wärmeleitfähigkeit und der strukturellen Qualität von Kunststoffen im Heißextrusionsprozess mittels Infrarot-Thermographie
- Non-invasive assessment of the bioburden of minced pork using a hand-held fluorescence device
- Evaluation and comparison of NIR multi-product calibration methods for Brix prediction
- THz imaging for recycling of black plastics
- Motion-based material characterization in sensor-based sorting
