January/February 2023 - 14

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
 Afresh's store-level replenishment system helps minimize produce waste and ensure product freshness. Photo: Afresh
How artificial intelligence is
transforming the produce industry
By Melanie Epp
Contributing Writer
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE software
is everywhere these days. It's used to
inform smart assistants such as Alexa
and Siri. It's used to pilot self-driving
cars, and inform marketing chatbots.
It's used in transcription software and
manufacturing robots.
AI is especially advantageous when
it performs tasks that humans find less
than desirable. With the addition of
artificial intelligence, robots can even
play a role in food processing plants to
swiftly address issues such as high staff
turnover and labor shortages.
AI is not innate intelligence but
rather the ability to solve problems
by learning through experience. Deep
learning software enables robots to
quickly adjust to new inputs and to
perform human-like tasks at incredible
speed.
In the food industry, robots
can help processors and food handlers
optimize quality, reduce waste and
improve flexibility.
14 JANUARY/ FEBRUARY 2 023
Micropsi Industries' MIRAI increases
flexible automation
Micropsi Industries recently launched
intel ligence-based
new ar t ificial
software - called MIRAI - that allows
robotics companies to add hand-eye
coordination that improves robotic
handling of product. MIRAI is compatible
with a range of robots, including those
made by Universal Robots and FANUC.
In a recent interview, Dominik Bösl,
managing director at Micropsi Industries,
explained how the technology works.
Conventional robotic solutions have
always been challenged by variance, such
as recognizing differences in shape and
size. MIRAI solves this problem.
" We can deal very well with variants
in space, in shape, and also in position,
so recognizing objects, finding objects,
trying to grasp objects, that is where -
not just MIRAI, but AI in general - will
really unleash a completely new level of
The following three companies provide
examples of how AI can be used to
improve processing tasks.
robotics, " he said. " Traditional robotics
was falling short in that respect. "
Bösl said there has been much demand
for these types of robotic solutions in the
food processing sector where shape and
size vary, and the ability to grasp objects
has been challenging. Using its camera
technology, MIRAI could be used, for
example, to differentiate between ripe
and unripe fruit, or to help line carrots
into packaging.
What makes MIRAI most interesting
for robotics companies is that skills
are trained rather than programmed.
The robot learns from humans who
demonstrate a given task by manually
guiding the robot by the 'hand.' The
accompanying camera takes 15-25 images
per second to capture that movement until
it eventually becomes a skill.
" We can teach the robots in hours
what others cannot program in weeks
or months, " said Bösl.
Bösl believes AI has to the power to
enable completely new applications
in the world of automation, especially
where automation has been traditionally

January/February 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January/February 2023