There has been an increased interest in using impact techniques for se
nsing firmness of fruits and vegetables. When an impactor is used to s
trike a fruit, the impacting mass is an important parameter which affe
cts both the impact signal and fruit damage. Results of theoretical an
alyses and tests conducted on two varieties of pears indicate that low
ering the impacting mass results in amplifying the measured signal, re
ducing sensing errors, and minimizing damage to the fruit.