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Intelligent Cutting and Handling System

The ability of the robot to cut through the joint and follow the scapula while using force feedback was tested.

A specialized end-effector was developed to grasp carcasses and hang them onto shackles.

Research Focus

Work on intelligent cutting has focused on continuing to evaluate the performance of Georgia Tech’s research cutting system and fine-tuning the cutting technique.

Specifically, the ability of the robot to cut through the joint and follow the scapula while using force feedback was tested. The test was performed without the aid of the vision system, using a preset placement to ensure that the robot started at the correct position every time. This test resulted in the robot being able to successfully cut through the joint and along the scapula bone approximately 70% of the time. The research team ultimately determined that the greatest source of error in this system was the robot’s inability to be controlled in real-time. To solve this, a new approach to the control system and the cutting method was undertaken. This work has led the team to design a prototype cell where the knife has two degrees of rotation and the cone has three degrees of freedom (two linear degrees of freedom and a single rotational degree of freedom). By developing the hardware in-house, the team has introduced the ability to have a much higher update rate for the device (3 times a second for the ABB robot versus 200 times a second with the proposed system), and allows for a much higher responsiveness in the system. This is critical for the system to be able to identify and respond to typical variations in the bone structure of each chicken.

In addition to the intelligent cutting work, the project also focused on two raw poultry product handling tasks. One task focused on developing a specialized end-effector capable of grasping WOGs (carcasses without giblets) and hanging them on shackles, while the other task focused on developing another specialized end-effector for grasping boneless breast fillets and placing them into a tray. Both end-effectors effectively showed that robotic handling of raw product is possible and promising.

Project Director:
Gary McMuray - 404.894.8057 - gary.mcmurray@gtri.gatech.edu

FPTD is a division of the Electro-Optics, Environmental, and Materials Laboratory in the Georgia Tech Research Institute at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Comments pertaining to this website may be made to Steven Thomas. All other inquiries should be made to the appropriate personnel with regards to project information (project directors) or administration. See the Directory of Personnel for the correct contact information.

Last modified February 2005 | Copyright 2005 | Georgia Tech Research Coporation | Legal