Electronic tongue based liquid identification using LVQ algorithm

Tongue is one of the most important sensory organs of our system. With the help of tongue, we are able to distinguish between the various food items which we eat or drink. The sensors on the tongue identify the tastes which are classified as bitter, sour, salty, sweet, umami (delicious). These are the parameters that help in determining and distinguishing the liquids like beer, tea, coffee, honey, milk etc. The present work describes an efficient way of identifying liquids — an electronic tongue. The electronic tongue consists of an array of sensors immersed in the liquids to identify them. Based on the identification the electronic tongue is used to classify the liquids. The sensors generate the data in the form of electrical signals. These electrical signals are then processed. For pattern recognition, Linear Vector Quantization (LVQ) algorithm of artificial neural networks (ANN) is used.