Testing Cannabis Potency at a Self-Service Kiosk
By Michael Mahoney at Monolith Machines Inc
INTRODUCTION
As more and more states permit individuals to grow cannabis for personal, medical, and recreational use, a steadily increasing number of people are deciding to ‘grow their own’. As a result, there is a steadily increasing need for the ability to test home grown cannabis for parameters such as THC and CBD content. To address this need, Monolith Machines, Inc. has developed a self-service kiosk which enables home growers to quickly and easily test their cannabis, no special skills required. We are demonstrating a fully functioning prototype of the kiosk analyzing an inert agricultural product in place of actual cannabis.
METHODS
The kiosk comprises an industrial spectrometer, a sample cassette, an automated sample transport carriage, a touch sensitive display screen, and a computer which controls the kiosk and calculates the analytical results. The loosely ground product to be analyzed is loaded into a cassette which completely encloses it. The cassette, in turn, is placed into the sample transport carriage which extends from the front of the kiosk. Once the cassette is loaded into the carriage, the automated measurement cycle is initiated simply by pressing the start button on the touch screen. The sample is automatically transported inside the kiosk where the sample is illuminated by the industrial spectrometer and the spectrum of the light coming off of the sample is measured with high precision at many wavelengths. This spectrum is then processed by a multivariate calibration algorithm which calculates the amount of THC and CBD present in the sample. THC and CBD values are displayed on the kiosk screen and the sample transport carriage returns the intact sample to the loading position where the sample cassette may be retrieved. The entire process takes less than a minute. The THC and CBD values may optionally be automatically delivered via email or cell phone text message via SMS.
RESULTS
This fully automated kiosk allows people to quickly, easily, inexpensively, and non destructively determine the levels of THC and CBD in their cannabis samples. No special training or skills are required.
CONCLUSIONS
The kiosk can enable untrained individuals to quickly conduct analysis on cannabis samples. This product is engineered for product-market fit, and will address the market needs with high reliability.
