IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - June 2023 - 118

brisket cutting, and head and jowl cutting
of pork carcasses while some organ
handling tasks remains manual [17]. In
secondary processing, more machines
exist to handle very specific tasks, such
as saws for tri-sectioning of half pork
carcasses, rib removal machines, pork
derinding machines. More generic
equipment for weighting, sorting, slicing,
and portioning is also available.
More intelligent machines, characterized
by incorporation of sensors (e.g.,
cameras, proximity detection, X-ray)
have enabled newer generations of equipment
to be more responsive to biological
variation. This has enabled, for example,
a robot designed for beef carcass
quartering and pork ham deboning [19],
as well as a fully automatic line for lamb
cutting and deboning [20]. Interestingly,
it was noted that the deboning functionality
of the latter system was removed,
as its inclusion alongside a skilled
workforce improved their efficiency to
the extent that the robot could not keep
pace. However, systems capable of automatic
deboning have been produced by
Mayekawa [21] for chicken (TORIDA
and LEGDAS) and for pork (HAMDASRX
and WANDAS-RX), for example.
Toward the end of the processing line,
FIGURE 2. A conveyor system in a small processing plant, where butchers are cutting and
trimming pork loins. For small processors, the workflow typically includes fewer automatic
solutions, relying much more on manual labor.
FIGURE 3. A conveyor system combined with sorting stations (Marel, StreamLine) where
performance of individual operators can be monitored, and tasks allocated automatically.
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IEEE ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION MAGAZINE JUNE 2023
machines or robots for packing, boxing,
and palletizing are becoming increasingly
common (in, e.g., medium- and
large-scale plants). In recent years there
have even been developments in packaging
of delicate and nonuniform products;
chicken fillets, for example, which have
required special grippers (see Figure 5),
as well as machine vision for product
identification, weight estimation, and
positioning. In turn, all this has enabled
robots to fill packets accurately and tirelessly
with remarkable uniformity. Universal
Robots has recently demonstrated
a cooperative system for tray placement
during the packing of sliced dry-cured
meat products [22], enabling workers and
robots to work together on the task. Once
the product is packed, the task becomes
much simpler due to reduced hygiene
considerations, as well as to increased
product rigidity and standardization.
Manufacturing and logistics have used
robots to handle packages, boxes, and
pallets for decades, making adoption
straightforward when compared to other
plant operations. Combined with automated
warehouse solutions, shop-specific
pallets can be packed automatically
due to vertical integration of business
intelligence systems. Therefore, distribution
can be optimized based on shop
stocking levels and consumer demand.
Several innovative developments
have taken place in the last decade,

IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - June 2023

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