US researchers develop chicken deboning robot

Researchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), US, have introduced a prototype robot that can debone chicken and other poultry products, using a robotic cutting arm and imaging technology.

They are currently trialling the system to determine the yield of the precision cuts. If successful, the model could save millions of dollars for the poultry industry, the researchers claim.

With the help of a 3D imaging and sensor-based technology the system identifies where to precisely cut the bird in order to optimise the product yield and lower the risk of causing any bone fragments in the final meat product.

According to researchers, the system can adapt to any size and shape of an individual bird. The system has two robots: a six-degree-of-freedom robot arm with a 3D vision system and a fixed two-degree-of-freedom robot that debones the bird.

The vision system collects the 3D measurements of various points on the bird, and based on this data, custom algorithms in the system determine the positions of internal structures such as bones and ligaments, and define a proper cut.

The robot also uses a force-feedback algorithm, which can differentiate meat and the bone, and then the fixed two-degree-of-freedom robot debones the bird according to its exact size and shape.

GTRI’s Food Processing Technology Division chief Gary McMurray said automated deboning technology can improve food safety, as bone chips are a hazard in boneless breast fillets.

"But it can also increase yield, which is significant because every 1% loss of breast meat represents about $2.5m to each of Georgia’s 20 poultry processing plants," McMurray added.

---

Image: A robotic system used in the robotic deboning system prepares to slice through the shoulder joint of a chicken. Photo: Georgia Institute of Technology.