We hope to be running field trials towards the end of 2026.

Impact bruising occurs when fruit hits a surface or another object — a drop, a transfer point, a roller. Compression bruising occurs when fruit is subjected to sustained pressure over time — the weight of fruit stacked in a bin, the wedging force under a roller, the settling forces inside inadequate packaging or incorrect handling during transit . Both cause cell damage and browning, but they develop differently and require different measurement approaches.

The RealBruiseIQ™ Suite Use & Limitations Policy is available for download in the Resources section. It covers design limits, operating procedure, and warranty terms for the RealBruiseIQ™, RealTrackIQ™, and RealStartIQ™ instruments.

No. The RealBruiseIQ™ is a dry-environment instrument and must not be used in wet conditions or near water. It is powered via USB connection to a wall socket. Connect to a laptop for control and data generation.

Yes. The RealBruiseIQ™ can be used in any dry environment including cool store assessment rooms. The instrument operates between 5–40°C. Note that fruit temperature affects susceptibility — test at the temperature your fruit will be handled at for the most accurate results.

It is common for RealBruiseIQ to be used daily. This provides a rock solid baseline of all fruit to be handled, stored or transported within your business.

A minimum of four fruit is required. Six or more is recommended for commercial applications and research use. The instrument tests each piece individually and produces a threshold value from the sample.

A test on a sample of six fruit can take as little as 15 minutes. Apples are then left for 24 hrs for the bruises to develop. Bruise diameters are measured and then simply added against the test data. The resulting susceptibility data file is generated and immediately available for viewing and loading into RealDataIQ™.

Bruise susceptibility depends on cell structure, water content, and turgor pressure in the fruit — all of which vary with variety, growing conditions, maturity, and storage history. A Gala at commercial maturity bruises at a different force level than a Fuji at the same maturity. The same variety bruises differently early in the season versus late. RealBruiseIQ™ measures the actual threshold rather than relying on published averages that likely do not reflect your fruits bruise susceptibility.

The RealAppleIQ™ Use & Limitations Policy is available for download in the Resources section. It covers design limits, warranty conditions, operating procedures, and warranty claim process in full.

The RealAppleIQ™ is designed for a service life of 5 or more years with correct care and handling. It is sealed at manufacture and requires no routine maintenance beyond cleaning and correct storage.

The RealAppleIQ™ works with the full SystemIQ™ Suite: RealUserIQ™ for session management, RealBaseIQ™ for data management and upload, and RealDataIQ™ for analysis and sharing. RealBruiseIQ™ data integrates directly into RealDataIQ™ to add bruise prediction to every run.

Yes, with the correct preparation. The lithium-ion battery must be declared and comply with airline carry-on requirements. Full guidance is in the RealSystemIQ_Suite_Travel_Guide, available in the Resources section.

The instrument uses sealed lithium-ion batteries charged via USB-C. In full dynamic mode the battery life is 1.5hrs this matches the memory capacity. Other modes will be available for extended (weeks) long measurement runs. Contact Real Instruments.

It measures the forces your fruit experiences as it travels through your handling system — every impact, every contact event, every drop — across 60 sensors simultaneously. It also captures full IMU orientation data so you know exactly where on the apple each force was applied and at what angle. All of this is recorded in sync with a video of the run.

The instrument is designed to match a commercial apple in weight, size, and buoyancy in water. It travels rollers, conveyors, and water flumes exactly as real fruit does. Its segmented construction allows it to flex and respond to contact in a way that rigid instruments cannot. Stark white finish for clear video capture.

Sixty force sensors are distributed across the full surface of the instrument, providing comprehensive coverage of all contact zones. IMU data supplements the force sensors with real-time orientation information, so every force event can be located precisely on the 3D model.

Yes. The RealAppleIQ™ is waterproof to 1 meter depth for 10 minutes in clean water (pH 5.0–9.0). It is designed for use in water flumes.