Thanksgiving at VEGA Americas

VEGA doesn’t claim to be a wine connoisseur who can tell you whether a white wine or a red wine will pair better with your Thanksgiving meal. However, VEGA does have extensive experience when it comes to the wine-making process, and they provide a vital role in turning those grapes into the beverage you enjoy.

Large wine producers in the United States need to keep their process running safely and efficiently, and there are a lot of steps between picking the grapes and purchasing a bottle from your favorite wine retailer. One of those steps in between is inventory management. The wine doesn’t go straight into a bottle. Before that, it may be stored in a large vessel or tank, and operators running the process need to know how much wine is inside to avoid overfilling or running dry sooner than expected. To complicate things, they need to know this information without anything actually touching the wine.

That’s where 80 GHz radar comes in – more specifically, the VEGAPULS 64. This sensor mounts on top of the tank or vessel where the wine is being stored. The radar emits microwave pulses, which reflect off the surface of the wine and are received by the antenna system. Using this time of flight, the sensor can calculate the level inside. It does all of this without ever touching the wine.

This is just one step in the wine-making process where radar is used to monitor level. Major wine producers are using VEGA sensors in other phases of the  process as well. Because of the advantages of 80 GHz – superior focus, ability to read through condensation, and increased sensitivity – VEGA is looking to the future and testing new applications that weren’t previously possible with former generation sensors.