Annual Report 2007

Developing a “Washable” Robot for Poultry Processing E ven a hard-working robot needs a good bath at the end of the day. That was the issue facing GTRI researchers as they delved into one of the big challenges in foodprocessing automation. Robots have begun to be deployed in many areas of food production, but their use for handling fresh meat has been hampered because such machines would also have to withstand cleaning with high-pressure water spray and corrosive sanitizing chemicals. At GTRI’s Food Processing Technology Division, research engineer Jonathan Holmes led a project to develop a robot that packs fresh meat into trays, but with a design and construction that withstands the harsh conditions created by routine washing in a way that is more consistent with the rest of the machines. Georgia Tech researchers have teamed with CAMotion, Inc. of Atlanta and are working in collaboration with Cargill Meat Solutions of Newnan, Ga. The robot’s job is to grasp raw meat products from a conveyor and place them onto foam packaging trays. The task requires considerable dexterity to pick up the products without causing damage, place them within the boundaries of the trays in an aesthetically pleasing manner, and provide one more visual inspection. And it has to be done fast – one per second. But that was the easy part, relatively speaking. “We’re used to building automated machines, so the automation side was something we’re accustomed to,” Holmes explained. “The wash-down side of it was brand new for us – it’s new for most people – and that was very challenging. We had to go through a lot of component testing initially just to find components we could use.” The current prototype uses special protective coatings and plating on its metal parts, shaft seals on its motors and other moving parts, and special watertight bearings that are little affected by the washdown process. The tray-filling stage of the poultry processing line may require up to a half-dozen human workers and often results in a bottleneck to the process. The hope is that automation of this type would result in increased throughput and lower costs for the industry. In addition, the wash-down technologies devised in this project could find their way into other areas untouched by automation because of cleaning requirements. This project was funded in part by Georgia’s Traditional Industries Program for Food Processing. A GTRI researcher studies operation of components in a new “washable” robot designed for use in poultry processing. www.gtri.gatech.edu http://www.gtri.gatech.edu

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Annual Report 2007

Annual Report 2007 Contents From the Director Research at GTRI Defense and Security Health and Human Systems Energy and Environment Manufacturing Technologies Information and Communication Technologies GTRI Around the World Interdisciplinary Research Centers The Laboratories of GTRI Georgia Tech Ireland GTRI by the Numbers GTRI and Georgia Tech Supporting Breakthrough Research GTRI Professional Education The People of GTRI

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