Robotics in Meat, Fish and Poultry Processing

The past decade has seen growing interest in the use of robotic technology in the food sector. There is a strong indication that this sector and, in particular, industries dealing with meat, fish and poultry products, would make even more use of robotics if such technology were better suited to the specific needs of the food production environment. Clearly the poten tial is high. This book aims to provide the reader with the state of robotic technology currently under development. For the first time a series of chapters, written by leading international authors, brings together a range of topics in robotics as applicable to meat, fish and poultry processing. The contents will interest researchers, managers, manufacturing engin eers, consultants and students. Manufacturers and suppliers of robotic technology or food machinery are strongly recommended to examine the content and exploit the potential benefits described. The co-operation and indeed the full active involvement of research establishments, manufac turers and food producers in teams, is essential in order to achieve the maximum use of robotics.

Inhalt
1 Capabilities and potential of robotics.- 1.1 Robotic technology and capability.- 1.2 Current robotic devices in use in the food sector.- 1.3 Production of primal cuts from carcasses.- 1.4 Concluding remarks.- References.- 2 Fish processing using computer vision and robots.- 2.1 Introduction.- 2.2 Current procedures in fish processing.- 2.3 Implementation aspects.- 2.4 Robotic and vision systems in use for fish processing.- 2.5 New applications and technological needs.- 2.6 Concluding remarks.- References.- 3 Robotics and the poultry processing industry.- 3.1 Introduction.- 3.2 The typical poultry processing operation.- 3.3 Issues impacting the potential for robotics in poultry processing.- 3.4 Evolution of automation in processing plants.- 3.5 Traypack workcell.- 3.6 Parts transfer/loading workcell.- 3.7 Vision for quality and machine control.- 3.8 Future directions and development needs.- References.- 4 Robotic packaging of poultry products.- 4.1 Introduction.- 4.2 The end-effector.- 4.3 The vision system.- 4.4 Vision system software.- 4.4.1 Training and recognition.- 4.5 Robot system integration.- 4.6 Poultry weight saving simulation.- 4.7 Conclusions.- Acknowledgements.- References.- 5 Robotic cutting of beef and deboning.- 5.1 Introduction.- 5.2 Robotic butchery system requirements.- 5.3 Butchery system operation scheme.- 5.4 Further work.- 5.5 Conclusions.- Acknowledgements.- Appendix 1: Cutting scheme definition.- Appendix 2: Forequarter measurement points.- References.- 6 Automation in the production of pork meat.- 6.1 Processes in pig carcass production and handling.- 6.2 Current trends in mechanisation and automation in the pork industry.- 6.3 Potential for improving quality by automation.- 6.4 Automatic grading system and description of a current system in use.- 6.5 Information management system for slaughterhouse companies.- 6.6 Future potential for robotics in pig slaughtering and cutting.- 146 Reference.- 7 The grading of meat carcasses.- 7.1 Introduction.- 7.2 Automated grading of meat carcasses.- 7.3 Methods of instrumental grading of pig carcasses.- 7.4 Methods of instrumental grading of beef and sheep carcasses.- 7.5 Video image analysis and carcass grading.- 7.6 Automation.- 7.7 Future developments.- References.- 8 Automated analysis of meat quality.- 8.1 Introduction.- 8.2 Trends in quality development.- 8.3 Market trends.- 8.4 Requirements and techniques for quality control of pork.- 8.5 Functional requirements.- 8.6 State-of-the-art techniques.- 8.7 Integration between slaughtering and measuring processes.- 8.8 A robotic analysis centre integrated with sampling in a pork plant.- 8.9 Practical experience and system development.- 8.10 Future needs in automated pork quality control.- 8.11 Integration and limitations.- 9 Flexible assembly and packaging automation in food production study tour report.- 9.1 Introduction.- 9.2 Characteristics of the food industry.- 9.3 Consumer trends.- 9.4 Trends in global food manufacturing.- 9.5 Elements of industrial scale food manufacturing systems.- 9.6 Research and development.- 9.7 Study tour reportperiod April to December 1991.