Examining short-wavelength infrared hyperspectral imaging for do-it-yourself-for-you laundry detergent powder fablab quality control

Do-it-yourself-for-you fablabs, autonomous mini factories responding to customer specific needs, require advanced cost efficient measurement systems for validating quality of end product. An example of end product is laundry detergent powder. The customer chooses raw materials with preferences related to for example odor, health and environmental aspects. Thus, the raw materials vary in each mixture. Operational risks include customized laundry detergent powder product missing a desired compound. To mitigate this risk, verification of each raw material existence in the mixture is essential. According to previous studies, optical measurement such as spectroscopy in short-wavelength infrared range is one promising way to identify raw materials in laundry detergent powders. For proving feasibility, we examined short-wavelength infrared hyperspectral imaging of laundry detergent powder samples - final products and raw materials. Additionally, we tested liquid soap samples with same method and experimental setup as in the detergent powder samples’ case. This study shows, that existence of desired raw materials can be verified from detergent powder with short-wavelength infrared imaging. Final testing of customized laundry detergent powder product avoiding desired compound absence failure is enabled by spectroscopic measurement and analysis. Liquid soap is more challenging test subject because of strong water absorption in the short-wavelength infrared range. Further studies should cover testing and comparing more optical measurement and analysis methods for finding accurate and affordable do-it-yourself-for-you fablab solutions.