Collaborative robotic technology is one of the most popular new trends in automation because of the innovative ways it has helped companies address production challenges, James Cooper, Manager - Executive Sales Team, FANUC America Corporation, explained during the 2021 International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE) Marketplace Tech Talk, “The Evolving Use of Collaborative Robots in Food Processing Facilities.”
Collaborative robots, also known as cobots, are designed to work safely alongside human workers. Typically, the robot is responsible for any repetitive task, freeing up the human worker to perform more complex, thought-intensive tasks.
Some of the benefits of collaborative robots include:
- Cost-effective approach to simpler applications
- Improved ROI calculation for low-speed applications
- Ability to implement robots into space constrained applications
- Shorter programming time
- Quicker deployment
Safety is paramount
“We always talk about safety first,” Cooper said. “I think everyone understands that we always want the technology to be applied in a safe manner to keep the workforce team members safe.”
Therefore Cooper recommends that all processing facilities interested in collaborative robotics to perform a safety assessment first.
“There’s a misnomer out there in the industry that a collaborative robot is safe,” he said. “That’s not the way to look at it. There’s no such thing as a safe robot. You have to look at the application and if the application can be made safe.”
When you do a safety risk assessment, the entire application where the collaborative robot may be used needs to be evaluated and documented.
Possible poultry processing applications
Collaborative robotic technology has several possible applications in the poultry industry, including:
- Material handling
- Case packaging
- Palletizing
- Tray handling
“In many of the poultry facilities, you’re running high volumes, high speeds, but there still are applications out there that we see for collaborative robots,” said Cooper. “Collaborative robots are still roughly the speed of a human worker, so that’s a really good way to look at where you could potentially have these robots apply.”
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