Robotic vision improving food traceability

A new rule is being introduced that will allow higher levels of identification as well as rapid removal of potentially contaminated food from the market and this will take effect in January 2026. This rule should compel food manufacturers to improve their quality management.

Food safety in manufacturing

Automation should allow for problems such as loss of customer confidence and reputation damage to be dealt with, however this will require investments of time and money, processes and equipment, as well as changes to culture and awareness among workers.

Robots can keep human workers out of uncomfortable or unsafe environments as well as eliminating potential for cross-contamination.

Eyes for robots

The latest industry 4.0 sensors and advanced vision systems allow them to assess light, temperature and proximity to other objects in the surrounding environment.  Older editions are not able to complete complex tasks the same way these new ones can, the newer robots are able to react to their surroundings making them truly autonomous.

A clear reading

The latest vision systems include Shibaura Machine’s TSVision3D system for industrial robots. Fortunately the system doesn’t require complex CAD data to recognise objects and instead uses high speed stereo cameras to capture real-time 3D images.

Take the example of Elliptical Design, a design and manufacturing company that turned to TM Robotics to design an ultrasonic cutting system for robot-assisted quality-sorting.