Robotic ultrasonic portioning at high speeds

A high-speed food cutting station incorporating an intelligent vision system which guides an ultrasonic cutter mounted on a robot, has been developed by Western Mechanical Handling (WMH) UK working in close partnership with Mitsubishi Electric.

The trial unit uses a Mitsubishi RV-7FM Melfa robot fitted with a Telsonic, ultrasonic cutting blade enabling clean, high-speed portioning. Melfa F-Series robots are designed to be flexible, fast, functional and food safe. They meet IP67 standards, allowing easy cleaning of the arm, while HG1 food-grade grease is used for lubrication.

The six-axis robot can rotate the blade to form radial slices from round products like pies and cakes. It can also be programmed to cut in a parallel motion for individual portioning of slab cakes or cheese and has been used for squaring the edges of non-linear products.

When coupled to a vision system, it can be used for accurate portioning of random sized products like fillets of meat or fish.

Contact: Western Mechanical Handling