Testing Random Vibrations Measurement Methodology on a Low-Cost System for Packaged Items Monitoring

The growing global reliance on logistics platforms in an increasingly interconnected world underscores the need for advanced tools capable of monitoring and mitigating transport-induced damage to goods. The economic impact of shipping-related damage extends far beyond the immediately visible costs, reaching up to seventeen times higher according to market estimates. This issue concerns not only high-value products but also lower-cost consumer goods-such as household appliances-which are now routinely delivered directly to customers by courier services. In this paper, a methodology for evaluating the mechanical energy transferred to a packaged item by random vibrations during transport is implemented on a low-cost sensing system based on MEMS accelerometers and a microcontroller, and compared against a reference measurement system employing piezoelectric accelerometers. Although limited to the low-frequency range between 1 Hz and 5 Hz, the experimental results demonstrate that the low-cost system provides measurements consistent with the reference system, yielding coherent estimates of the band-limited energy transferred to both the transported item and its packaging. The average ratio of energy absorbed by the packaging relative to the item, as estimated by the low-cost system, is 1.2, compared with 1.4 obtained from the reference measurements.