Robots Take on Human Work in Fish Production

The pandemic changed the use of robots in food production. COVID-based spacing restrictions in food factories created huge problems. Yet handling meat and fish was considered a job that required human workers. Food producers began to seriously consider robots. They turned to robot manufacturers saying, “Can you help us out here?” Meanwhile, the capabilities of robots were improving quickly with improved end-of-arm tooling and AI vision.

Robot makers answered the call with amazing examples of robotic food handling. A recent example is Flexiv Robotics’ Fish Fillet Shaping Solution that automates the breaded cod production process.

Image courtesy of Flexiv Robotics.

In a statement, Flexiv noted, “I know it sounds a bit unusual, but we’ve automated what was, quite frankly, a pretty undesirable job.”

The Rizon 4 robot automation solves a number of food-line challenges:

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The Rizon 4 adaptive robot utilizes a combination of computer vision and force-control to identify and shape breaded fish fillets. The result is that consumers receive portions of a uniform size and shape.

The task has traditionally been performed by manual labor, where employees carefully shape each fillet to ensure a consistently sized end product. The high level of concentration necessary for manual shaping has proved exhausting for workers, leading to a high staff turnover rate and operational challenges for supervisors trying to keep the station running. Flexiv’s challenge was to puts all in the work in the hands of machines.

Flexiv focused on operations at one of Asia’s leading seafood producers. Robot engineers studied the operation and broke it down into machine-capable steps. “We were told that the shaping stage was difficult for the client to staff, so we used our adaptive technology to not only solve the problem but improve how it’s completed,” said Liang Mao, Flexiv's new market solution director. “Our fillet shaping solution ensures consistency, speeds up production, and maintains the highest standards of quality, all while completing a manual labor type task that no one wants to do.”

Flexiv’s solution combines custom end-of-arm tooling and AI-based vision sensing to enable precision and efficiency that moves beyond human capabilities. The system accurately detects the location of each fillet. Then, operating in sync with the speed of the conveyor line, Flexiv’s Rizon 4 robots shape the portions without lifting them, using force-control to apply the precise amount of pressure needed to from the fillets without causing damage.

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The Rizon 4 robots operate with a consistency and speed impossible for human workers, resulting in productivity boosts without compromised quality. The fully automated solution includes a self-cleaning feature that keeps food debris from adhering to the end-of-arm tooling. The self-cleaning function meets the required levels of hygiene and operational effectiveness.

The ability to deploy the solution quickly was part of the engineering design. Flexiv’s fish fillet shaping solution can be integrated into an existing production line in less than half a working day and it requires no specialized training or prior experience in robotics.