You won't see people working on our new pepper line," says Machiel Honig, co-owner of ZTI smart machines. A company that focuses on developing machines for the fruit and vegetable processing industry, among others. "Tipping over crates of peppers is enough to eventually produce half or quarter peppers stripped of the core.
"In this new processing line, the peppers are viewed with a camera and then picked up with the robot's silicone gripper. Thanks to this vision technology, the robot knows exactly how to position the pepper for the de-coring unit. This then removes the core of the pepper with extreme precision. After the core is removed, the pepper can be cut into two or four equal parts." Hans Keijzer, co-owner, stresses that the automation of the process prevents a lot of losses. "Employees cannot be expected to consistently place peppers in the machine for hours at a time. A robot does not make mistakes and never gets tired."
Repetitive movements
In addition, this automated way of working results in substantial savings in labour, Machiel observes. He calls it one of the biggest drivers to automate pepper processing. But the repetitive nature of the work also plays a role, says Hans. "If you have to do the same movement for hours on end, it's not the most pleasant work you can do for long-term health.
Besides saving on labour - Hans sees opportunities to save at least two workers - the sustainability component also plays an important role. "Because we collect a lot of data on, in this case, the peppers, feedback can be given to the operator. If it turns out that this badge contains some smaller peppers, a slightly smaller drill can be used, for example, so that he retains more of the fruit."
More possibilities
While the processing line was initially developed for peppers, Machiel sees plenty of other opportunities for processing other fruits and vegetables. "The technology we use here, a combination of vision technology, robotics and deep learning is not limited to peppers. By and large, with different options, our machine can also be used for other products."
The pepper line will be marketed as a modular package, Hans points out. He notes that depending on the process, the required capacity and the available space, a choice of components and level of automation can be made. "Thereby, the trade-off can be made to still work with part manual labour, which can then be automated later if required. But however the line is set up, there will still be an advantage."
Hygiene and safety
Energy consumption was taken into account in the development phase, Machiel reveals. "It does play a role. We calculate energy consumption to an optimum, so that no more is used than strictly necessary." The hygiene aspect was also considered from the concept phase onwards. "Use is made of the cleaning-in-place technique that can be applied during the process. We can temporarily run the robot on another module." Because robots are used, less shielding is needed in terms of safety and therefore the machine is easier to clean. "There is a huge open view of what is happening in the machine, which is an advantage for hygiene and maintenance," Hans adds.
The techniques used also contribute to employee safety, Machiel notes. "With this processing line, it is easier to create distance between the blades and people. With other machines, we find that the measures needed to achieve a safe workplace involve considerable costs. Now that we use these robots and the process completes in a shielded area, we can keep operators away from the blades more easily, especially when the machine is running fully autonomously."
