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Agriculture
Agriculture is the foundation of the food industry. Agriculture is the source of all food products, including meat, dairy products, and crops. Agricultural entities have the responsibility to provide these food products and should look to robots for each step.
Autonomous robots are able to travel through fields of crops, remove weeds and monitor crop health. Other autonomous robots are capable of collecting eggs and milk, as well as feeding the animals. These robots can perform repetitive tasks and free up farmworkers for more complex tasks that require greater dexterity or intuition.
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Manufacturing
The first step in robotics for food processing is manufacturing. This involves many steps that are common in a manufacturing plant, such as packaging and safety monitoring. Robots are able to clean and sort different kinds of food. Robotic arms are capable of organizing fruits and vegetables into separate containers.
Robots can prepare certain foods before packaging. Robots can cut fruits and vegetables with a variety of cutting tools. They can pair knives according to the type of cut or switch between different cutting tools more efficiently. These robots can cut food in grocery stores and prepare meals by themselves.
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Robotics in Food Packaging
For a long time, food packaging robots have been integrated into various parts of the food supply chain. The latest advancement is that all of the packagings can now be automated.
There are three types of food packaging:
Primary packaging — Each food is packaged. A pick-and-place robot, for example, places sweets in plastic tubs.
Secondary packaging — Packages are grouped together. Another pick-and-place robot, for example, stacks the plastic tubs into larger boxes.
Tertiary packaging Secondary packages are grouped together for shipping. A palletizing robot, for example, places many boxes on a pallet.
Robotic packaging is likely to remain a major application in the food industry.
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Robotics in Food Delivery
Recent media attention has focused on robotic food delivery. Domino’s Pizza announced earlier this year that it will be using autonomous ground vehicles to deliver pizzas. This follows their first drone delivery, which was very successful and loud.
Although autonomous food delivery might seem like a “new fad”, it is actually addressing a growing market trend. There has been an increase in demand for ready-to-eat, restaurant-quality, home-delivered food over the past few years. It is uncertain whether autonomous delivery will be widespread, but we are definitely changing our tastes in take-out.
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Safety
Robots are able to perform dangerous tasks in warehouses or manufacturing plants, which can put workers at risk. Autonomous robots are capable of retrieving items from high places.
Food robots can perform tasks that would otherwise cause illness in employees. Both severe and mild foodborne diseases are very common. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 48 million Americans are affected by foodborne diseases each year.
Robots can work with meats, fish, or other products that could cause illness, which reduces the time lost. Robots are less likely to handle or mispackage food products and spread an illness.
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Grocery Shopping
Customers can shop for ingredients at grocery stores. Robots can be used to assist customers and manage inventory.
Robots work behind the scenes to sort and process incoming packages just like they would in a factory. They can unpack and sort the contents. This organization assists in inventory management and helps to know what items to order for the store.
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Cooking
Cooking Robots can also be used in the kitchen to prepare food. Robots are being used in restaurants to prepare the ingredients and cook them. The creator burger joint is located in San Francisco. Robots prepare the ingredients and cook the burgers.
These robots may soon be a popular trend in home cooking. Moley Robotics already has a robot that can cook meals for customers. The company plans to release robots that can cook up to 5,000 meals and have the ability for customers to use their skills.
