Robots developed by researchers at Hokkaido University are being trialled at a Japanese vineyard, Hokkaido Wine, for pesticide spraying and weed control.
The University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, is serving as a test site for PepsiCo’s Snackbots delivering better-for-you snack and beverage brands from Hello Goodness via an app.
Scientists are developing a ‘vine robot’ to collect information from grape vines quickly and reliably, helping farmers make production decisions easily.
PPMA SHOW 2014, BIRMINGHAM, UK: LIVE FROM THE SHOW FLOOR!
The head of food packaging innovation at UK retailer Marks & Spencer has urged companies to invest in smaller, more adaptable machines to keep up with the pace of packaging change.
LIVE FROM THE SHOW FLOOR, PPMA, BIRMINGHAM, OCTOBER 2014
Pacepacker Services CEO Dennis Allison says food industry interest in robots has rocketed in the UK this year but warns that the nation lags well behind countries like Germany in using them to gain a competitive edge.
High health care costs, a lack of interest in repetitive manual labour and rising worker wages has led to an explosion of automated machinery, according to Intelligrated.
Robotics sales to UK food and drinks manufacturers have jumped by more than a quarter over the past two years as industry increasingly embraces the technology, said the British Automation and Robot Association (BARA).
Greater hygiene, improved consistency of operation and greater productivity are all key advantages to be realised from using robotics in meat processing and packaging, said the German Institute of Food Technologies (DIL).
In the third part of our special edition on robotics in the food industry we explore how robots are becoming a more common sight in the dairy and beverage sectors.
Robot-based product packaging and palletizing remain the areas for quick wins in the confectionery sector but robots, albeit in the leading EU based confectioners, are gradually taking on more tasks a step earlier at the processing stage.
Robotic technology, which featured largely at the recent Anuga FoodTec trade show, has untapped potential to improve productivity, increase product yield and bring greater flexibility to the food manufacturing production line, claims TM Robotics.
Adept Technology said yesterday it has shipped the first of what it
is calling the world's fastest light payload packaging and handling
robot targeted at the food industry.
New wide mouth heads for robots are designed to gently pick up
bottles by neck from the top, and attach and release in
milliseconds, the manufacturer claims.
A "tasting" robot that can identify foods, drinks and their
ingredients through the packaging provides a glimpse into the
future direction of safety and quality control in manufacturing
plants.
Researchers in the UK have developed a new robotic arm that is
fully mobile, has accuracy that rivals industrial fixed robot arms
and could cost significantly less.