The present invention relates to a product validation system for validating a product, e.g. a product in a stage of a supply chain. The product validation system comprises a blockchain database, a sensor device, a validator, and a processing unit. The sensor device is configured to measure a characteristic of the product and to send the characteristic to the validator for validation of the product. The invention is further related to a method for validating a product, e.g. a product in a stage of a supply chain.

Blockchain databases, also known as a blockchain, and blockchain techniques are applied more and more in everyday life. A well-known example of an application of block - chain may be found in cryptocurrencies. Another example of an application of blockchain may be found in smart contracting.

A blockchain may be viewed as a distributed virtual ledger wherein transactions are recorded. The nature of the blockchain is such that recorded transactions may not be altered. Any changes made to a blockchain result in a new block added to the chain, rather than an older block being changed. This leads to a certain level of trust, guarantee and/or security when using the blockchain. Another advantage is that blockchain may be used by parties to perform transactions without the need for a trusted third party.

In recent years supply chains have become more and more focused on an increased number of transaction with a smaller value per transaction. For example, there is a higher focus on shipping products from a producer directly to a consumer, skipping intermediate steps. This development is paired with an increased automatization in supply chains wherein supply chains rely more and more on machine to machine transactions and the internet of things. In these automated supply chains, blockchains are used to provide a trusted ledger of transactions.

US 20180284093 discloses a food traceability and alert system utilizing blockchain or similar structures with cryptographic signatures, distributed sensors throughout the supply chain, and cloud infrastructure to provide trusted information from all states of the supply chain.

A downside of using known blockchain techniques is related to the fact that recorded transactions may not be altered. Namely, it is possible that, due to an intentional or unintentional error, erroneous information is entered in the blockchain. This erroneous information cannot be changed once it has been recorded in a new block of the block- chain. The value or trustworthiness of information of the blockchain is determined outside of the blockchain. This downside may be present for example in an automated supply chain. The invention aims to alleviate this downside.

The first aspect of the present invention provides a product validation system according to claim 1.

The invention is related to a product validation system for validating a product.

The product may be a product in a stage of a supply chain, for example at a first stage of a supply chain. The product validation system is configured to validate an identity of the product or a property of the product. For example, the system may determine whether a product is an apple, or whether a product has been cultivated with the use of certain pesticides. For example, the invention allows the origin of the product to be validated. For example, information on weed control used or field of origin of the crop may be validated by the invention and stored in the blockchain.

Advantageously, the invention does not rely on human actions to validate the product. In particular, neither the first characteristic nor the second characteristic are determined by observation by a human. Additionally, the first product feature and second product feature are determined without the aid of a human. Thus errors based on human actions are eliminated by the invention. The invention allows this information to be trustworthy for consumers later on the supply chain.

The product to be validated may be any type of product. For example, the product may be an automotive product, a product comprising organic matter, or a toy. For example, the product may be a crop that is growing on a field or that is already been harvested. For example, the product may be a tree or wood from a tree. The product may be stored in a storage.

The product validation system comprises a blockchain database for storing validated information of the product. The blockchain database comprises data blocks in a chain, wherein, when a new block is added to the chain, the new block is added to an end of the chain. Information already comprised in the blockchain may not be altered. A block is added to the blockchain of the invention when the first product feature and the second product feature are consistent. In other words when the product is validated by the invention.

The product validation system comprises one or more first sensor devices which are configured to determine a first characteristic of the product. The one or more first sensor devices are all configured to determine the same first characteristic of the product. The first characteristic of the product may be characteristic of an identity or a property of the product, e.g. based on predetermined characteristics. For example, the first characteristic may be related to the DNA of an organic product, a shape of a product, a colour of a product or biometrics of the product. Other possible characteristics are characteristics related to scanning techniques such as MRI, CT, infrared or Lidar.

The terms “feature” and “characteristic” of a product, as are used herein, refer to a property of a product that is determined, for example the feature “shape” or “colour”, and the value of that property, for example the characteristics “round” or “red”.

The term “ sensor” or “sensing device”, as used herein, refers to a digital observer of measured values which is carried out on its own, or in combination, electronically, mechanically or virtually. A sensor detects or measures a property of a product, such as a physical property, and records, indicates, or otherwise responds to it. Measured values become available as data and are forwarded from a protocol for further processing.

The term “ user”, as is used herein, refers to a person or machine who can and may perform actions based on assigned roles and rights.

The term “validator”, as is used herein, refers to a program or protocol that carries out checks or controls based on established criteria. A validation process is done by at least one validator. Accreditation results from the outcome of said one or more validation processes.

The term “dVal”, as is used herein, refers to a decentralized validator.

The first sensor device may also be configured to measure characteristics related to sound, gas, or liquid properties of the product. For example, the sensor maybe configured to measure emission values of a car or the weight of a product.

The one or more first sensor devices may be located in separate locations in order for determining the first characteristic of the product in these separate locations. This allows determination of the first characteristic of the product in various locations, for example in various stages of the supply chain.

The one or more first sensor devices may have to satisfy certain quality requirements, e.g. related to the first sensor device, the product, and the first characteristic. For example, for a visual sensor device a certain resolution of the measurements may be required before a determined first characteristic is deemed trustworthy by the system. This may prevent bad measurements by the one or more sensor devices to negatively impact the validation of a product, for example by validating a wrong product based on an untrustworthy first characteristic. The product validation system further comprises one or more first validators. Each of the one or more first validators is connected to a respective one of the one or more first sensor devices to receive the first characteristic determined by the respective first sensor device.

The first validator may comprise, or is, a digital protocol using predetermined reference characteristics. The first validator processes the first characteristic as received from the one or more first sensor devices. The one or more first validators are configured to determine a first product feature based on the first characteristic and the predetermined reference characteristics, for example by comparing the first characteristic with the predetermined reference characteristics. For example, if the first characteristic determined by a first sensor device is a DNA sample associated with a specific type of apple than the first validator may determine the first product feature to be that specific type of apple based on a reference DNA sample.

The reference characteristics may be chosen depending on the product to be validated. The first product feature may a property of the product not related to an identity of the product, e.g. if the product is an apple, but may be related to a property of the product to be validated, e.g. if certain pesticides have been used in growing the apple. After determining the first product feature the one or more validators are configured to send the first product feature to a processing unit. The processing unit is configured to receive the determined first product feature from the first validators. The processing unit is further connected to the blockchain database to store validation information of the product in the blockchain database, e.g. to add a new block to the blockchain.

The processing unit may be a decentralized processing unit. For example, in an embodiment of the invention comprising multiple first validators and multiple first sensors devices, the multiple first validators and multiple first sensor devices may be in separate locations, wherein in each location a sub processing unit of the processing unit is present to receive the determined first product feature from the respective first validator.

The supply chain validation system of the invention further comprises one or more second sensor devices which are configured to determine a second characteristic of the product. The second characteristic is different from the first characteristic. For example, if the first characteristic is related to a collagen content of a product the second characteristic may be related to an appearance of the product. The second characteristic may be indicative of an identity of the product. The second characteristic is different from the first characteristic but the second characteristic may be selected from a same, or a simi- lar, list of predetermined characteristics as the first characteristic. The one or more second sensor devices may be located in separate locations in order for determining the second characteristic of the product in these separate locations.

The one or more second sensor devices may have to satisfy certain quality requirements related to the second sensor device, the product, and the second characteristic. For example, for a visual sensor device a certain resolution of the measurements may be required before a determined second characteristic is deemed trustworthy by the system. This may prevent bad measurements by the one or more sensor devices to negatively impact the validation of a product, for example by validation a wrong product.

The product validation system further comprises one or more second validators which are each connected to a respective one of the one or more second sensor devices.

The one or more second validators may comprise, or are, a digital protocol using predetermined reference characteristics. The second validator processes the second characteristic as received from the one or more second sensor devices. The one or more second validators are configured to determine a second product feature based on the second characteristic and the predetermined reference characteristics, for example by comparing the second characteristic with the predetermined reference characteristics.

The processing unit is further connected to the one or more second validators to receive the determined second product feature from the one or more second validators. The processing unit is configured to:

• compare the first product feature and the second product feature;

• determine whether the first product feature and second product feature are consistent with each other:

• validate the product if the first and second product feature are consistent with each other;

• determine validated information, e.g. a validated product identity, associated with the validated product; and

• store, if the product is validated, the validated information in a data block of the blockchain database. Said data block of the blockchain database optionally is encrypted.

• The first product feature and second product feature are consistent with each other if both the first product feature and the second product feature are associated with the same product or with a same property of the product. For example, if the first product feature is red and the second product feature is round, then the system may determine that the product is an apple. However, if the first characteristic and second characteristic are not associated with the same product then the first product feature and second product feature are not consistent. In this case the result may not be validated. However, the result may still be stored in a data block of the blockchain. Said data block of the blockchain database optionally is encrypted.

When the first validator and second validator produce consistent first and second product features the product may be validated and an accreditation contract may be created for the product. The accreditation contract may be added to the blockchain database by the processing unit.

The validation system of the invention may comprise additional sensor devices, such as third and fourth sensor devices, that determine additional, such as third and fourth, product features that may be validated. The validation system of the invention may comprise an unlimited number of additional sensor devices, but in practice the number of additional sensor devices is likely to be limited to three, thus having a total of five different sensor devices that measure a total of five independent product features. For the sake of clarity, each of said sensor devices may be present at multiple positions within the validation system of the invention, thereby enabling to monitor the same product feature at multiple positions within the, for example, supply chain.

Said additional features may, for example, include fluid measurements, gas measurements such as emission values, noise measurements, and the like.

The invention allows for a trustworthy validated result in an automated setting, such as an automated supply chain. The first and second sensors may automatically determine the first and second characteristics and the first and second validators may automatically determine the first and second product features. By validating and storing the validation information in the blockchain when the first product feature is consistent with the second product feature, the storing of erroneous information in the blockchain is prevented.

In an embodiment the product validation system further comprises a data output device, e.g. a display, for outputting the validated information to a user of the product validation system. This allows the user to look up validated information of the product from the blockchain database.

In an embodiment the system further comprises a scanner for scanning the product, e.g. a label on the product, which scanner is configured to request validated information of the product from the blockchain. The scanner may be a smart phone. Upon scanning the product the scanner may request the blockchain if the product is known and, if it is known, to send the validated information to a user for inspection. For example, this allows a user to check if the product is validated and which product characteristics have been measured by the sensors.

The validated information may e.g. be displayed on a display of the scanner or associated with the scanner. In case said validated information is encrypted, it will be decrypted before it will be displayed on a display, as will be clear to a person skilled in the art.

In an embodiment the one or more first validators and the one or more second validators are connected with a reference database to access a plurality of reference characteristics stored therein, and wherein the respective validators are configured to compare the respective characteristic with one or more of the plurality of reference characteristics to determine the first or the second product feature. In this embodiment the reference database contains the reference characteristics which are used by the validators to compare the determined first and second characteristics to. An advantage of this embodiment may be that the reference characteristics are accessible to all users. Users may thus be allowed to add or remove reference characteristics they deem to be useful or not useful. Further, this allows users to see the properties which may be used to determine the first and second product identities.

In an embodiment the reference database is a decentralized database comprising one or more sub-databases, wherein the one or more reference sub-database each comprise the plurality of reference characteristics.

In an embodiment the one or more first validators are each connected with a respective reference sub-database and wherein the one or more second validators are each connected with a respective reference sub -database, such that each reference sub-data- base is connected to one first validator and one second validator. This allows the product validation system to work decentralized. Preferably, the first and second sensor devices and the first and second validators are also decentralized, e.g. located at different locations, wherein the system comprises multiple first and second sensor devices and multiple first and second validators. This allows validation of the product in multiple locations, e.g. at multiple stages of the supply chain, wherein a user may check whether a product has the same characteristics as an earlier validated product.

In an embodiment the product comprises organic and/or biological matter. For example the product may be a food or feed product, for example a crop, such as wheat or corn, or a vegetable or fruit. The product may also be wood, trees or plants. In an embodiment at least one of the first characteristic and the second characteristic is one selected from the group of

• DNA barcode;

• molecular fingerprint;

• radioactivity;

• a cross-sectional image, for example by employing techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), X-ray, sonar, radar;

• collagen content; and

• an appearance of the product, for example a shape or colour of the product.

In an embodiment the processing unit further is configured to determine a mathematical consistency score by processing the first product feature and the second product feature using an algorithm to determine whether the plurality of determined product features are consistent. The consistency score may be determined based on predetermined values added to the reference characteristics. For example, a reference characteristic which has a high likelihood to be associated with a specific product may have a higher predetermined value and thus have a higher impact on the consistency score than a value which has a low likelihood to be associated with a specific product.

In an embodiment the first product feature and the second product feature are consistent if the mathematical consistency score exceeds a predetermined consistency threshold. For example, this is the case if two product features give a strong indication to be associated with a same product.

In an embodiment the predetermined consistency score depends on one or more of the first sensor devices and one or more of the second sensor devices, e.g. on a reliability of sensor devices. For example, the first sensor device may be more reliable, or the measured property may be more reliable, than the second sensor device. In this case the consistency score may depend more strongly on the first characteristic than on the second characteristic.

In an embodiment the reference database is a centralized database. This may be advantageous as it may be more difficult to change reference characteristics in the database, thus protecting the database from fraudulent activities.

In an embodiment, the data that is stored in the database is encrypted

In an embodiment a respective validator further is configured to determine at least one non-product feature, and wherein the validation result further is determined based on the at least one non-product feature. The non-product feature may be, for example, gps information on the location of harvest of a crop product, gps information on a location of a cutting of a tree, information on the use of pesticides, and/or information on the person that performs an operation.

In an embodiment the at least one non-product feature is one selected from the group of:

• location associated with the respective validator; and

• person identification associated with a person using the respective validator.

In an embodiment the blockchain database is configured to provide access to the validation result.

In an embodiment determining the respective product identity is automated.

In an embodiment the processing unit is further configured to:

• invalidate the product if the first and second product features are not consistent with each other;

• determine invalidated information, e.g. an invalidated product feature, associated with the invalidated product;

• store, if the product is invalidated, the invalidated information in a data block of the blockchain database. In this case, only the information of the mismatch will be registered and no validation key will be created.

This allows the system to store potentially relevant information related to a product which is not validated. This might show a problem with the product, it may either have a different identity, e.g. an apple instead of a pear, or it may have a different property, e.g. the use of wrong pesticides, than the desired product.

The first aspect of the invention is further related to a system for distributing products comprising the product validation system according to the first aspect of the invention and a product distribution system, e.g. an automated product distribution system, wherein the product distribution system is configured to distribute a validated product based on the validation information stored in the blockchain database by the product validation system.

The system for distributing products is for example a supply chain system wherein a product distribution system distributes products from a first user to a second user. The product validation system may be used by the first user to validate the product, whereupon the product is distributed by the distribution system. The second user may then use the product validation system to validate the product received from the product distribution system. The first aspect of the invention is further related to a method for validating a product using a product validation system according to one the first aspect of the invention.

In an embodiment of the method, the method comprises:

• determining a first characteristic of the product using one of the first sensor devices;

• sending the first characteristic to a respective first validator;

• determining, using the first validator, a first product feature based on the first characteristic;

• sending the first product feature from the first validator to the processing unit;

• determining a second characteristic of the product, different from the first product, using one of the second sensor devices;

• sending the second characteristic to a respective second validator;

• determining, using the second validator, a second product feature based on the second characteristic;

• sending the second product feature from the second validator to the processing unit;

• comparing, using the processing unit, the first product feature and the second product feature;

• determining, using the processing unit, whether the first product feature and second product feature are consistent with each other:

• validating, using the processing unit, the product if the first and second product identities are consistent with each other;

• determining, using the processing unit, validated information, e.g. a validated product identity, associated with the validated product; and

• storing, if the product is validated, the validated information in a data block of the blockchain database.

In embodiment the method further comprises:

• invalidating the product if the first and second product features are not consistent with each other;

• determining invalidated information, e.g. an invalidated product feature, associated with the invalidated product;

• storing, if the product is invalidated, the invalidated information in a data block of the blockchain database. The first aspect of the invention allows for the use of validation of product identities and product properties through the use of smart tools, such as a smart sprayer or a smart chain saw.

For example, the invention may be used in conjunction with a smart sprayer, which smart sprayer comprises a first sensor device and/or a second sensor device. The smart sprayer may be used to validate the use of certain pesticides on the field of crops. Thus allowing users later in the supply chain to have a certainty which pesticides have been used on a crop.

For example, the smart sprayer may be equipped with first sensor device which is a label scanner which scans a label attached to a canister containing the pesticide to be used. The smart scanner is further equipped with a second sensor device which is a molecular scanner, e.g. a Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer, for scanning the pesticide as it leaves the sprayer. If the first and second properties match with first and second product identities and if they are consistent the system may then validate the use of the pesticide on the product and add the information to the block chain. The smart sprayer may also only be equippable with a single kind of pesticide, for example by only allowing a single type of canister to fit, thus increasing the likelihood that the correct pesticide is used.

In another example, the invention may be used in conjunction with a smart chain saw, which smart chain saw comprises the first sensor device and/or the second sensor device. The smart chain saw may be used to validate a location of cutting down a tree. Thus allowing buyers later in the supply chain to have a certainty as to the location of origin of the wood they buy. This is advantageous, for example, to counteract illegal deforestation.

For example, the smart chain saw may be equipped with a first sensor device which is a first sensor which scans the location of use of the chain saw. The second sensor device may be a satellite driven screening tool, which allows checking of live images of deforestation. If the location of deforestation for the tree for the first sensor device and second sensor device are consistent the invention may then validate the location of the cutting of the tree and add the information to the block chain.

Said smart chain saw may have the following functionalities:

(1) Identification of the holder or user of the smart chain saw, preferably employing bio-metric data. Said biometric data may also be stored in a database, which is optionally encrypted. Systems that may be used for identification of the holder/user may include facial recognition when taking the smart chain saw from a storage, for example 3D recognition by a 3D sensor (e.g Artec Broadway 3D face recognition, or a camera, for example an iris scanner such as a Thales Cogent Iris Scanner CIS202. Said identification may further include analysis of skin texture and/or surface texture; and/or identification of the holder of the smart chain saw, for example a finger print scanner such as an optical scanner; capacitive scanner; ultrasonic fingerprint scanner, e.g. a Qualcomm 3D Sonic Sensor, or Curve Single Finger Capture Solution (Integrated Biometrics), that is mounted on the smart chain saw.

(2) Information regarding precise positioning of the smart chain saw. For this, the smart chain saw may be equipped with a GPS tracker, for example a TKSTAR 905; Glob- altrace G300. Said GPS tracker is optionally coupled to Sentinel-2 images at high spatial resolution (10 m to 60 m), and/or to satelite image screening tools like https://satel- lietdataportaal.nl/, which allows checking of live images of deforestation at GPS location.

(3) Identification of an individual tree. For this, the smart chain saw is equipped with a camera. Said camera may be coupled to recognition software regarding identification of an individual tree based on, e.g. overall appearance, size and shape, silhouette, leaf or needle identification, bark colour determination, bark texture determination, presence or absence of flowers and/or fruit, leaf bud appearance, leaf bud arrangement, annual rings etc. Artificial intelligence such as PictureThis (Glorify Software Ltd); Leafsnap (Columbia University, the University of Maryland, and the Smithsonian Institution); Botany Buddy, Google Vision API and Google AutoML Vision for Computer Vision solutions may be used for the correct identification of a specific tree. Furthermore, or in addition, said smart chain saw may comprise a molecular scanner that is coupled to genetic wood analyses data, a DNA extractor /barcode scanner, for the identification of e.g. mitochondrial DNA (for example cytochrome c oxidase I), 18S rRNA, an internal transcribed spacer (ITS) within an rRNA gene, ribulose- 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/ox- ygenase (Rubisco), a Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR) or near infrared (FT-nIR) spectrometer such as NeoSpectra (Si-Ware Systems); SCiO (Consumer Physics), MicroPhazir (ThermoScientific) and MicroNir (VIAVI), and/or a Time of Flight (ToF) sensor such as a VL53L1X time-of-flight distance sensor (Pololu; Las Vegas, USA), a lidar scanner such as TFmini LIDAR module 12M IR distance sensor (Antratek, Nieu- werkerk a/d Ijssel, the Netherlands) to assist in the correct identification of a tree or part of a tree. (4) An integrating system, for example Arduino physical computing-platform or Raspberry PI, that may be present in the processing unit. Said integrating system is connected to the blockchain, preferably via any functionality such as bluetooth, WiFi, 3G, 4G, 5G, and/or satellite sensor communication like Hiber Global.

In another example, the invention may be used in conjunction with an inventory management system, which inventory management system comprises the first sensor device and/or the second sensor device. The inventory management system may be used to validate the removing of a product from the storage. Thus allowing for validated knowledge of the stocks present in the inventory management system.

For example, inventory management system may be equipped with a first sensor device, which is a weight sensor, which senses the weight of a stack of products in the inventory. When the weight changes the change of weight is sent to the first validator which may determine identity and amount of product removed or added based on the change of weight. The second sensor device may be a bar code scanner which scans products as they enter or leave the inventory. The second sensor device may determine identity information of products and send the information to the second validator, which second validator determines the second product feature. If the first and second product identities are consistent the information on the change of stock in the inventory is added to the blockchain. Off course, a change in weight that is caused by, for example, a natural drying process of, for example, a felled tree, must be corrected for by the inventory management system, as will be clear to a person skilled in the art.

Said inventory management system may have the following functionalities:

(1) Identification of a biocide/chemical product in a storage, preferably a locked storage with limited, controlled access. Said biocide/chemical product may have an unique position in the storage, like a refrigerator in hotel, and lifting of the product invokes a signal sent to the first validator which may determine identity of the product. As an alternative, or in addition, the biocide/chemical product may be equipped with an unique label, such as a QR code or bar code, and an use of a label scanner is required for removing the biocide/chemical product from the storage.

(2) Identification of the person taking the biocide/chemical product from the storage, preferably employing biometric data. Said biometric data may also be stored in a database, which is optionally encrypted. Systems that may be used for identification of the person may include personalized access to the storage, or example using personal key cards, or a finger print scanner such as an optical scanner; capacitive scanner; ultrasonic fingerprint scanner, e.g. a Qualcomm 3D Sonic Sensor, or Curve Single Finger Capture Solution (Integrated Biometrics); facial recognition, identifying a person that enters the storage, for example 3D recognition by a 3D sensor (e.g Artec Broadway 3D face recognition, or a camera, for example an iris scanner such as a Thales Cogent Iris Scanner CIS202. Said identification may further include analysis of skin texture and/or surface texture;

(3) Use of bioci de/chemical product. Data regarding crops, e.g. identity of crops, positioning of crops, that will be sprayed with the biocide/chemical product has to be entered as a second product feature. Only if the biocide/chemical product is allowed for use on that specific crop, the biocide/chemical product can be removed from the storage. The second validator may include information whether on whether the person taking the biocide/chemical product from the storage may be in possession of said crops, for example whether he has ordered said crop seeds in the preceding months. Ordering seeds for growing crop A allows taking a biocide/chemical product that is allowed for crop A from the storage. If a smart sprayer (see herein below) is used, a camera on the smart sprayer can be used for identification of the crops.

(4) An integrating system, for example Arduino physical computing-platform or Raspberry PI, that may be present in the processing unit. Said integrating system is connected to the blockchain, preferably via any functionality such as bluetooth, WiFi, 3G, 4G, 5G, and/or satellite sensor communication like Hiber Global.

A management system, such as an inventory management system according to the invention may be used for accreditation functionalities. A strategic alliance between AmericanHort and Netherlands-based sustainability certification expert MPS (More Profitable Sustainability) is aiming at improving sustainability best practices and better protect the environment. A scoring system, termed MPS-ABC, in which A qualifies a company with the highest scoring, includes a company registration on five environmental themes, including crop protection. Points are awarded based on the consumption registration of the participant. All means used during cultivation, storage and processing of the product applied to the company must be registered. This also concerns resources applied by a third party such as a subcontractor.

Instead of a regular (yearly) audit, continuously/continually monitoring may be used to provide said accreditation. For this, a management system, such as an inventory management system according to the invention, may be well suited. Said system comprises:

(1) Use of Inventory management system and Smart sprayer as detailed elsewhere herein; (2) Continuously monitoring all facilities of a company, e.g. by employing camera’s with face recognition software; the purpose of said continuously monitoring is to provide evidence that no “unmonitored” events have taken place;

(3) Continuously monitoring wastewater of said company will provide additional proof that only allowed products were used. Regular monitoring of wastewater in the area surrounding said company may provide further proof;

(4) Regular analysis of soil samples at the area of the facilities of the company and in the area surrounding the facilities of the company employing, for example, Fourier- transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR) or near infrared (FT-nIR) spectrometer such as NeoSpectra (Si-Ware Systems); SCiO (Consumer Physics), MicroPhazir (ThermoScien- tific) and MicroNir (VI AVI);

(5) An integrating system, for example Arduino physical computing-platform or Raspberry PI, that may be present in the processing unit. Said integrating system is connected to the blockchain, preferably via any functionality such as bluetooth, WiFi, 3G, 4G, 5G, and/or satellite sensor communication like Hiber Global.

The invention is also related to a second aspect thereof. The second aspect of the invention aims to provide a product validation system which provides trusted entries in a blockchain. The entries of the blockchain may be related to a product identity or a product property, similar to the first aspect of the invention.

The second aspect of the present invention provides a product validation system for validating a product, e.g. a product in a stage of a supply chain, comprising:

• a blockchain database for storing validated information of the product comprising a plurality of data blocks; one or more sensor devices which are configured to determine a characteristic of the product, o wherein every sensor device is configured to determine the same characteristic of the product;

• one or more validators which are each connected to a respective sensor device to receive the characteristic determined by the respective sensor device, o and wherein the one or more validators are configured to validate the product based on the characteristic, o wherein the product is validated when the characteristic is consistent with one or more reference characteristics stored in a trusted reference characteristic database; • wherein the one or more validators are connected to the blockchain database and wherein the one or more validators are configured to: o store, if the product is validated, the validated information in a data block of the blockchain database.

The second aspect of the invention validates a product when a characteristic measured by a sensor device is consistent with a reference characteristic stored in a trusted reference characteristic database. The trusted database may be a blockchain database. Users of the product validation system may predetermine a list of characteristics they deem to be sufficient to validate a product. For example, to determine an identity of a product a DNA sampling may be sufficient. The trusted database may then contain a number of reference DNA samples to compare to the measured characteristic.

The invention is related to a product validation system for validating a product. The product may be a product in a stage of a supply chain, for example at a first stage of a supply chain.

The product validation system is configured to validate an identity of the product or a property of the product. For example, the system may determine whether a product is an apple, or whether a product has been cultivated with the use of certain pesticides. For example, the invention allows the origin of the product to be validated. For example, information on weed control used or field of origin of the crop may be validated by the invention and stored in the blockchain.

The product to be validated may be any type of product. For example, the product may be an automotive product, a product comprising organic matter, or a toy. For example, the product may be a crop that is growing on a field or that is already been harvested. For example, the product may be a tree or wood from a tree. The product may be stored in a storage.

The product validation system comprises a blockchain database for storing validated information of the product. The blockchain database comprises data blocks in a chain, wherein, when a new block is added to the chain, the new block is added to an end of the chain. Information already comprised in the blockchain may not be altered. A block is added to the blockchain of the invention when the product is validated.

The product validation system comprises one or more sensor devices which are configured to determine a characteristic of the product. The one or more sensor devices are all configured to determine the same characteristic of the product. The characteristic of the product may be characteristic of an identity or a property of the product, e.g. based on predetermined characteristics. For example, the characteristic may be related to the DNA of an organic product, or biometrics of the product. Other possible characteristics are characteristics related to scanning techniques such as MRI, CT, infrared or Lidar.

The sensor device may also be configured to measure characteristics related to sound, gas, or liquid properties of the product. For example, the sensor may be configured to measure emission values of a car or the weight of a product.

The one or more sensor devices may be located in separate locations in order for determining the characteristic of the product in these separate locations. This allows determination of the characteristic of the product in various locations, for example in various stages of the supply chain.

The one or more sensor devices may have to satisfy certain quality requirements, e.g. related to the sensor device, the product, and the characteristic. For example, for a visual sensor device a certain resolution of the measurements may be required before a determined characteristic is deemed trustworthy by the system. This may prevent bad measurements by the one or more sensor devices to negatively impact the validation of a product, for example by validating a wrong product based on an untrustworthy first characteristic.

The product validation system further comprises one or more validators. Each of the one or more validators is connected to a respective one of the one or more sensor devices to receive the characteristic determined by the respective sensor device.

The validator is a digital protocol using predetermined reference characteristics. The validator processes the characteristic as received from the one or more sensor devices. The one or more validators are configured to validate a product if the characteristic is consistent with a reference characteristic stored in a trusted reference database.

The reference characteristics may be chosen depending on the product to be validated. The product feature may a property of the product not related to an identity of the product, e.g. if the product is an apple, but may be related to a property of the product to be validated, e.g. if certain pesticides have been used in growing the apple.

The product characteristic and reference characteristic are consistent with each other if both the product characteristic and the reference characteristic are associated with the same product or with a same property of the product.

The invention allows for a trustworthy validated result in an automated setting, such as an automated supply chain. The one or more sensor devices may automatically determine the characteristics and the one or more validators may automatically compare the characteristic with the reference characteristics. Thus the storing of erroneous information in the blockchain may be prevented.

In an embodiment the trusted reference database is a decentralized database comprising one or more sub-databases, wherein the one or more reference sub-database each comprise the plurality of reference characteristics.

In an embodiment the one or more validators are each connected with a respective reference sub-database, such that each reference sub-database is connected to at least one validator. This allows the product validation system to work decentralized. This allows validation of the product in multiple locations, e.g. at multiple stages of the supply chain, wherein a user may check whether a product has the same characteristics as an earlier validated product.

In an embodiment the product comprises organic matter. For example the product may be a crop, such as wheat or corn, or a vegetable or fruit. The product may also be wood, trees or plants.

In an embodiment the characteristic is selected from a group comprising:

• DNA barcode;

• molecular fingerprint;

• radioactivity;

• a cross-sectional image, for example by employing techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), X-ray, sonar, radar;

• collagen content; and

• an appearance of the product, for example a shape or colour of the product.

In an embodiment a validator further is configured to determine at least one nonproduct feature, and wherein the validation result is determined based on the at least one non-product feature. The non-product feature may be, for example, gps information on the location of harvest of a crop product, gps information on a location of a cutting of a tree, information on the use of pesticides.

In an embodiment the at least one non-product feature is one selected from the group of:

• location associated with the respective validator; and

• person identification associated with a person using the respective validator.

In an embodiment the blockchain database is configured to provide access to the validation result. In an embodiment determining the respective product identity is automated.

The second aspect of the invention is further related to a method for validating a product using a product validation system according to the second aspect of the invention.

In an embodiment of the method, the method comprises:

• determining a characteristic of the product using one of the sensor devices;

• sending the characteristic to a respective validator;

• validating the product based on the characteristic, wherein the product is validated when the characteristic is consistent with one or more reference characteristics stored in a trusted reference characteristic database;

• storing, if the product is validated, the validated information in a data block of the blockchain database.

The invention will now be described in a non-limiting way by reference to the accompanying drawings in which like parts are indicated by like reference symbols and in which: figure 1 depicts a product validation system wherein use is made of one first sensor device, one first validator, one second sensor device and one second validator; figure 2 depicts a product validation system wherein use is made of decentralized sensor devices and validators; and figure 3 depicts a smart sprayer wherein use is made of a product validation system.

Figure 1 depicts a product validation system 1 wherein use is made of one first sensor device 4, one first validator 5, one second sensor device 7 and one second validator 8 and a centralized reference database 9. The product validation system 1 depicted in figure 1 is a schematic representation of a product validation system 1 according to the first aspect of the invention. The product 3 depicted in figure 1 is a schematic drawing of an apple, the apple 3 may be in a stage of a supply chain, for example at a first stage of a supply chain. The apple 3 may be any other type of suitable product 3. In other embodiments the product 3 to be validated may be any type of product 3. For example, the product 3 may be an automotive product 3, a product 3 comprising organic matter, or a toy. For example, the product 3 may be a crop that is growing on a field or that is already been harvested. For example, the product 3 may be a tree or wood from a tree. The product 3 may be stored in a storage and the system may validate the removal of the product from the storage. The product validation system 1 is configured to validate an identity of the product 3 or a property of the product 3. For example, the product validation system 1 may determine a product feature, either a product identity or a product property. For example the validation system 1 may validate whether a product 3 is an apple, or whether the product 3 has been cultivated with the use of certain pesticides. Depending on the type of validation required the first sensor device 4 and the second sensor device 5 may be different type of sensor devices.

The product validation system 1 comprises sensor devices (4, 7) and validators (5, 8) which allow the validation of the product 3, without the need for a human to add a feature of the product into the blockchain 2. Errors based on human actions are eliminated by the product validation system 1. The product validation system 1 allows this information to be trustworthy for consumers later on the supply chain.

The product validation system 1 comprises a blockchain database 2 for storing validated information of the product 3. The blockchain database 2 comprises data blocks in a chain, wherein, when a new block is added to the chain, the new block is added to an end of the chain. Information already comprised in the blockchain 2 may not be altered. A block is added to the blockchain 2 of the product validation system 1 when the first product feature and the second product feature are consistent. When the first product feature and the second product feature are consistent, the product 3 is validated by the product validation system 1.

The product validation system 1 comprises one first sensor devices 4 which are configured to determine a first characteristic of the apple 3. The first characteristic may be a DNA sample of the apple 3. The first characteristic may also be a weight of the apple 3, a colour of the apple, or other suitable characteristics. The first characteristic of the apple 3 may be characteristic of an identity or a property of the apple 3, e.g. based on predetermined characteristics.

The first sensor device 4 may have to satisfy certain quality requirements, e.g. related to the first sensor device 4, the product 3, and the first characteristic. For example, for a visual sensor device 4 a certain resolution of the measurements may be required before a determined first characteristic is deemed trustworthy by the system. This may prevent bad measurements by the first sensor device 4 to negatively impact the validation of the apple 3, for example by determining a characteristic suggesting that the apple is a pear. The product validation system 1 further comprises a first validator 5. The first validator 5 is connected the first sensor device 4 to receive the first characteristic determined by the first sensor device 4. The first validator is further connected to a centralized reference database 9 and a processing unit 6.

The first validator 5 is a digital protocol using predetermined reference characteristics. The first validator 5 processes the first characteristic as received from the first sensor device 4. The first validator 5 are configured to determine a first product feature based on the first characteristic and the predetermined reference characteristics, for example by comparing the first characteristic with the predetermined reference characteristics. For example, if the first characteristic determined by the first sensor device 4 is a DNA sample associated with a specific type of apple than the first validator may determine the first product feature to be that specific type of apple based on a reference DNA sample.

The reference characteristics may be chosen depending on the product, for example they may be characteristics of type of apples, to be validated. The first product feature may a property of the product 3 not related to an identity of the product 3, e.g. if the product 3 is an apple, but may be related to a property of the product to be validated, e.g. if certain pesticides have been used in growing the apple 3.

After determining the first product feature the first validator 5 is configured to send the first product feature to the processing unit 6. The processing unit 6 is configured to receive the determined first product feature from the first validator 5. The processing unit 6 is further connected to the blockchain database 2 to store validation information of the product 3 in the blockchain database 2, e.g. to add a new block to the blockchain 2.

The supply chain validation system 1 of figure 1 further comprises one second sensor device 7 which is configured to determine a second characteristic of the product 3. The second characteristic is different from the first characteristic. For example, if the first characteristic is related to a collagen content of the product 3, the second characteristic may be related to an appearance of the product 3. The second characteristic may be indicative of an identity of the product 3. The second characteristic is different from the first characteristic but the second characteristic may be selected from a same list of predetermined characteristics as the first characteristic.

The product validation system 1 further comprises a second validator 8 which is connected to the second sensor device 7. The second validator 8 is a digital protocol using predetermined reference characteristics. The second validator 8 processes the second characteristic as received from the second sensor device 7. The second validator 8, similar to the first validator 5, is configured to determine a second product feature based on the first characteristic and the predetermined reference characteristics, for example by comparing the first characteristic with the predetermined reference characteristics.

The processing unit 6 is further connected to the second validator 8 to receive the determined second product feature from the second validator 8.

The processing unit 6 is configured to:

• compare the first product feature and the second product feature;

• determine whether the first product feature and second product feature are consistent with each other:

• validate the product 3 if the first and second product feature are consistent with each other;

• determine validated information, e.g. a validated product identity, associated with the validated product 3; and

• store, if the product 3 is validated, the validated information in a data block of the blockchain database 2.

The first product feature and second product feature are consistent with each other if both the first product feature and the second product feature are associated with the same product 3 or with a same property of the product 3. For example, if the first product feature is red and the second product feature is round, then the system may determine that the product 3 is an apple. However, if the first characteristic and second characteristic are not associated with the same product 3 then the first product feature and second product feature are not consistent. In this case the result may not be validated. However, the result may still be stored in a data block of the blockchain 2.

When the first validator 5 and second validator 8 produce consistent first and second product features the product 3 may be validated and an accreditation contract may be created for the product. The accreditation contract may be added to the blockchain database 2 by the processing unit 6.

The first validator 5 and the second validator 8 are connected with a reference database 9 to access a plurality of reference characteristics stored therein. In this figure the reference database 9 contains the reference characteristics which are used by the validators (5,8) to compare the determined first and second characteristics to.

An advantage of this embodiment is that the reference characteristics are accessible to all users. Users may thus be allowed to add or remove reference characteristics they deem to be useful or not useful. Further, this allows users to see the properties which may be used to determine the first and second product identities.

In the figure reference database 9 is a centralized database 9. This may be advantageous as it may be more difficult to change reference characteristics in the database 9, thus protecting the database from fraudulent activities. The reference database 9 may be a blockchain database, similar to the blockchain 2 used for storing the validated information.

Figure 2 depicts a product validation system 1 wherein use is made of decentralized sensor devices 4, 4’, 7, 7’ and decentralized validators 5, 5’, 8, 8’, a decentralized reference database 9, 9’.

Compared to the embodiment of figure 1, the sensor devices 4, 4’, 7, 7’ and first validators 5, 5’, 8, 8’ are located in separate locations in order for determining the first and second characteristics of the product 3, 3’ in these separate locations. This allows determination of the first characteristic of the product 3, 3’ in various locations, for example in various stages of the supply chain.

The product 3, 3’, again depicted as an apple 3, 3’, may be validated by the sensor devices 4, 7, the validators 5, 8 and the processing unit 6, at a first stage of a supply chain. After which the information is stored in the blockchain 2. If a user desires to check the validation, or to revalidate, the product 3 at a later stage, depicted as product 3’, a second set of sensor devices 4’, 7’, validators 5’, 8’, and processing unit 6’ are present to validate the product. The respective sensor devices, validators, and processing unit are identical.

The reference database 9, 9’is a decentralized database comprising two sub-data- bases 9, 9’. The first and second validators 5, 5’, 8, 8’ are each connected with a respective reference sub-database 9, 9’. The two reference sub-database 9, 9’ each comprise the plurality of reference characteristics, such that the product 3, 3’ may be validated for the same characteristics at different locations in the decentralized setup.

Figure 3 depicts a smart sprayer 10 wherein use is made of a product validation system 1. The smart sprayer 10 may be used to validate the use of certain pesticides on the apple 3, thus allowing users later in the supply chain to have a certainty which pesticides have been used on the apple 3.

The smart sprayer 10 comprises a canister 12 and a nozzle 11. The canister 12 contains a pesticide which may be sprayed on the apple 3 through the nozzle 11. The sprayer 10 comprises a first sensor device 4, which measures the pesticide as it flows from the canister 12 to the nozzle 11. The first sensor device 4 may determine the type of pesticide used based on a type of spectroscopy.

The first sensor device 4 is connected to a first validator 5. After the first sensor device 4 has determined a first characteristic, the first characteristic is sent to the first validator 5. The first validator determines a first product feature based on the first characteristic and reference characteristics stored in a reference database 9. The first product feature may then be sent to the processing unit 6.

The smart sprayer further comprises a second sensor device 7, which is a label scanner 7 which scans a label attached to the canister 12 containing the pesticide to be used. The label scanner 7 determines a second characteristic of the pesticide based on the label of the canister 12. The second characteristic is sent to the second validator 8 which determines a second product feature based on the second characteristic and reference characteristics stored in the reference database 9. The second product feature is then sent to the processing unit 6.

The processing unit 6 compares the first product feature and the second product feature. If they are both associated with a same pesticide the product 3 is determined to be sprayed with that pesticide. The product 3 is thus validated. The validated product information is then stored in the blockchain 2 by the processing unit 6. A further user may now be reasonably sure what type of pesticide has been used on the product 3.

Said smart sprayer may encompass the following functionalities:

(1) Identification of the holder or user of the sprayer, preferably employing biometric data. Said biometric data may also be stored in a database, which is optionally encrypted. Systems that may be used for identification of the holder/user, may include facial recognition when taking the sprayer from a storage, for example 3D recognition by a 3D sensor (e.g Artec Broadway 3D face recognition, or a camera, for example an iris scanner such as a Thales Cogent Iris Scanner CIS202. Said identification may further include analysis of skin texture and/or surface texture; and/or identification of the holder of the sprayer, for example a finger print scanner such as an optical scanner; capacitive scanner; ultrasonic fingerprint scanner, e.g. a Qualcomm 3D Sonic Sensor, or Curve Single Finger Capture Solution (Integrated Biometrics), that is mounted on the sprayer.

(2) Information regarding positioning of the sprayer, which may be used for example to identify operating location and/or to determine a dosage per surface area. For this, the smart sprayer may be equipped with a GPS tracker, for example a TKSTAR 905; Globaltrace G300. (3) Identification of the biocide/chemical product that is used as a pesticide. For this, the sprayer may be unique, meaning that it fits only one biocide/chemical product; the canister (12) may be equipped with a unique label or bar code, that is read by a reader that is positioned on the smart sprayer; and/or a molecular scanner e.g. Fourier- transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR) or near infrared (FT-nIR) spectrometer such as NeoSpectra (Si-Ware Systems); SCiO (Consumer Physics), may be present at or near the nozzle (11) to monitor the identity of the biocide/chemical product that is being sprayed.

(4) Determination of the amount of biocide/chemical product that is being sprayed, for example the amount per minute, or the amount per square meters. For this, a flow meter, for example a Digital Fluid Meter (Piusi K24) or an Electronic Fluid Meter (Flux) may be mounted on the sprayer to determine the amount of biocide/chemical product that is being sprayed.

(5) A monitoring system to monitor the area that is being sprayed. For this, the sprayer may be equipped with a camera. The camera may be coupled to recognition software regarding the identification of pathogens, and/or for monitoring crop recovery, for example by using artificial intelligence. Al may allow automatic dosing to achieve quicker crop recovery and/or to adjust spraying volume depending on number of pathogens, identity of pathogens, prior practice, weather forecast, day of the year, or any combination thereof.

(6) An integrating system, for example Arduino physical computing-platform or Raspberry PI, that is present in the processing unit (6). Said integrating system is connected to the blockchain (2), preferably via bluetooth, WiFi, 3G, 4G, 5G, and/or satellite sensor communication like Hiber Global.