Front leg cut, hind hock & neck tipping
Description
This will be the first sheepmeat system that integrates two robots performing three tasks in a coordinated way in the same safety cell. The three tasks are neck cut/neck tipping, front leg cut and hind hock cut (rear leg stubbing).
Benefits
Potential benefits of this system include:
- Improvements in OH&S such as the elimination of operator strain injury and risk of trauma injury from the cutting blade
- Consistency with the robotic mounting and control of the cutting systems used for the applications providing improved cutting accuracy and repeatability over systems controlled by hand
- Improved yield and minimisation of waste product via improved cutting line accuracy, greater cutting line consistency and flexibility of system to change cutting specifications upon request
- Reduced labour cost with the system replacing 2-3 units of labour per shift
- Improved food safety compared with manual methods
Availability
The system is currently in the reserach and development phase, with a trial system expected to be installed in an Australian processor during 2010.
More Information
In 2005 a project co-funded between MLA and AMPC was the first structured attempt to set the basis for a stream of future automation developments. This project documented all the manual operations in beef and sheep slaughter, and categorised these in three groups, according to the risk and technical difficulty of automation.
A further two projects, completed in 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 respectively, focused on the development of sensing technologies highlighted as high priority in the earlier project.
This earlier work was conducted by Food Science Australia (FSA) but MLA decided that, in order to maximise chances of adoption and industry impact, a commercial company with interest and experience in meat processing automation should be involved. That company was Machinery Automation and Robotics (MAR).
In 2007, and after a successful technology transfer with FSA, MAR started several projects leveraging on the outcomes of the above. Products resulting from those projects were:
- Automated sheep brisket cutting
- Automated sheep SaniVac (vacuum sanitation)
- Automated beef front hoof cutting
Two of those implementations, namely the Brisket Cutter and SaniVac systems, have been successfully completed and are commercially available.
The neck tipper/hock cutter is expected to be the next technology arising from the original set of concept automation products. A brochure outling the benefits of this system is available from Machinery Automation & Robotics.