Hands-free

The food industry is taking a hands-off approach to improve safety and reduce production costs by using robots. With enhanced vision sensors, end-of-arm tools (EOAT) and wash-down capabilities, food manufacturers will increasingly be able to use lighter, more flexible robots for tasks previously reserved for manual labor.

The contention is that taking humans out of the picture could yield fewer contamination risks, enable more automation in meat packaging and slicing, and result in fewer on-the-job injuries.
"In the industrial space alone, we expect that robots could provide up to $1.2 trillion in value by 2025 through labor-saving productivity gains," said Dominic Barton, a global managing director at McKinsey & Co., a consulting firm that has studied the issue.1

A man-made industry
In the 1980s, the use of robotics in food processing was mostly relegated to end-of-the-line tasks such as packaging and palletizing. The introduction of the Delta robot in the 1990s allowed robots to move upstream in the baking industry, and have direct contact with food. With better motion-control algorithms, these bots performed pick-and-place tasks, grabbing and moving food at high speeds. Delta robots are often used for sorting and packaging foods like candies, frozen foods or baked goods, and are being similarly applied in cosmetic and pharmaceutical manufacturing processes.2
Between 2001 and 2008, more advances allowed robot models to be washed down with high-pressure washers and other models to be made of stainless steel, aligning them with U.S. Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture standards.3
Today, the food industry mostly uses a combination of man and machine for its production processes—automating high-volume production of a single food product.4

Robot evolution
Many types of food are never consistent: Chicken breasts, for example, are slippery and vary in size and shape. Currently, human operators perform tasks with products that are too complex for robots: handling multiple packaging configurations, identifying and removing defective products, as well as loading wrapping machines.5 Advances in robotics, however, will reduce these traditionally human-only tasks.

Vision sensors give robots "sight," for example, allowing them to orient an object for handling and inspection. To overcome the current limitations of robotics in food processing, new vision sensors must be able to read depth, an object’s orientation and changes in lighting, and identify randomly sorted objects. Complex algorithms, along with cameras and software, help robots distinguish what’s in front of them.

This automated system must also work seamlessly with its handling mechanisms in order to avoid collisions with other robots or objects.6 Robotic companies offer pick-and-place robots that can be integrated with a vision system that isn’t thrown off by the random presentation of products on conveyor belts.7

Robots’ EOATs have become more flexible, and they can better deal with delicate food products. Manufacturers are designing smarter EOATs that handle food without damaging it, minimize food buildup on a machine, perform packaging tasks and withstand cleaning.

For example, researchers at SINTEF, a Scandinavian research organization, are working on creating a robot that can remove breast fillets from chickens. The task is normally done by humans because of the delicacy of chicken fillets, but after equipping their machine with flexible grasping tools and 3-D vision, the job could become automated for the first time.8
"In the case of chicken fillets, this also means making optimum use of the material," said Ekrem Misimi, a technical cyberneticist who studies how humans interact with machines. "A flexible grasping tool scrapes the carcass while pulling it off the fillet, removing as much of the meat as possible."9

Health costs
Beyond reducing production costs, robots also could enhance food safety. Annually, food recalls and foodborne illnesses cost the United States $77 billion.10 Direct contact with food by production workers results in the majority of contaminations in foodborne illnesses.11

Cross contamination, bacteria and other environmental contaminants can be introduced into food from human skin unless sanitary polices are strictly followed. Unfortunately, humans don’t always follow these policies, and it’s more difficult for bacteria to stick on wash-down robots with smooth surfaces. It’s also easier to sanitize the robotic equipment with high-pressure water and disinfecting chemicals.12

Besides the cleanliness factor, there always have been challenges for workers in food processing environments.
Processing plants sometimes run at low or high temperatures, making long working hours difficult for operators by adding to physical and mental fatigue. The high-speed, repetitive nature of production tasks for workers also poses health risks such as musculoskeletal disorders—which can lead to muscle pain and sleeplessness.13

"Work-related musculoskeletal disorders remain the leading cause of workplace injury and illness in this country," said David Michaels, U.S. assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health.14
In the end, work-related injuries, medical expenses, time off and loss of production can add up to big costs for food manufacturers.
Slicing, portioning, packing and inspecting are just a few of the applications offered today for robots. As their features and capabilities evolve, so will their roles in food production, giving manufacturers safer, faster production at a lower cost.

Drawbacks, however, exist in expensive initial investments needed for new equipment, maintenance costs, unguaranteed return on investments, and employee training programs for working with the machines.15 

"Our aim is to automate absolutely everything we can think of on the food production line," Misimi said. "Automating this work will speed up production and make it more efficient. It will free up the producer’s capacity and make better use of the raw materials."16

References
1. "What Jobs Will Robots Have in the Future?" Wall Street Journal, July 3, 2014, http://tinyurl.com/wallstrobot.
2. Austin Weber, "Delta Robots Feed Need for Speed," Assembly, Feb. 3, 2015, http://tinyurl.com/deltaspeed.
3. ABB Ltd., "FDA and USDA Certified Robotic Food Processing Systems," white paper, http://tinyurl.com/abbwhitepaper.
4. Steve Davis, "Robotics and Automation for the Food Industry," Food Safety Magazine, August/September 2014,http://tinyurl.com/roboticfood.
5. ABB Ltd., "FDA and USDA Certified Robotic Food Processing Systems," see reference 3.
6. "What is Robot Vision?" RobotWorx, www.robots.com/faq/show/what-is-robot-vision.
7. "Delta Robots Improve Highly Repetitive Tasks," FANUC,http://tinyurl.com/robotsimprove.
8. "Using Robots to Get More Food from Raw Materials," The Poultry Site, Jan. 5, 2015, http://tinyurl.com/robopoultry.
9. Ibid.
10. Jenni Spinner, "Food Recalls Cost Billions Each Year," Food Production Daily.com, Sept. 11, 2013, http://tinyurl.com/recallbillions.
11. ABB Ltd., "FDA and USDA Certified Robotic Food Processing Systems," see reference 3.
12. Gretchen Edelbrock, "EPSON Robots: Wash Down Robots for Food, Medical Applications," Packworld.com, Dec. 20, 2012,http://tinyurl.com/washdownrobo.
13. "Pain Management: Musculoskeletal Pain," WebMD.com,http://tinyurl.com/muscpain.
14. "U.S. Labor Department’s OSHA Temporarily Withdraws Proposed Column for Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders, Reaches Out to Small Businesses," news release, U.S. Department of Labor, Jan. 25, 2011, http://tinyurl.com/muscdisorder.
15. "Advantages and Disadvantages of Automating with Industrial Robots," RobotWorx, http://tinyurl.com/advantagestorobots.
16. "Using Robots to Get More Food From Raw Materials," see reference 8.

Article Reference: Quality Progress