ROBOTICS & MOTION CONTROL FEATURE
HAVE YOUR CAKE and automate it!
Solving a long standing automation problem in cake decoration has also produced a development that could be taken up across a whole range of other industries. Mitsubishi Electric explain
Q
uasar Automation wanted to create a system that can neatly apply icing or
other embellishments to cakes regardless of irregularities and imperfections in the cakes’ surface. To achieve this it has integrated a ceiling mounted food safe robot from Mitsubishi Electric with a vision system and data processing software from Scorpion Vision. Bob Hinchcliffe, managing director of
Quasar in Ripon, North Yorkshire, explained that the project fulfils an existing need, “Cake decoration is mainly undertaken manually and is very skilful. It can be time consuming and the final result is, of course, variable.” The top of any cake is far from smooth -
in fact each one is uniquely uneven. When applying writing, such as ‘happy birthday’, or an image, the decorator intuitively adjusts to allow for the irregularities. Early attempts at automated icing effectively used 2D images, which distorted on the rough surface and rarely looked perfect.
A NEW BREED OF ROBOT Hinchcliffe went on to say that Quasar has developed a growing interest in the potential of robots for food applications. He was recently invited to Mitsubishi’s UK headquarters where he was given a demonstration of a new robot range designed for hygienic industries such as food manufacture. The F-series robots are based on a new
mechanical design and can be floor, wall or ceiling mounted. They incorporate a powerful new controller and other high performance components, so can maintain high positioning accuracy and high speed movements. All cabling is fully enclosed for total
hygiene, including pneumatic tubing and an Ethernet connection for specialist functions. Jeremy Shinton of Mitsubishi Electric commented, “Food and beverage producers are increasingly looking at robotic automation. To meet this emerging need the F-Series robots are designed to meet IP67, allowing easy
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cleaning of the arm, while food safe HG1 food grade grease is used for lubrication. For the ultra-hygienic pharmaceutical and medical sectors a cleanroom version meeting ISO 5 is available.” Quasar decided to use the F-series
robot, ceiling mounted in a dedicated cell. Utilising the Ethernet cable, a machine vision camera is mounted on the robot and the first step of the operation is to scan the cake’s surface so that a 3D mapped image of all the irregularities is produced. The vision system was developed with Scorpion Vision, whose Windows-based software can be combined with Gigabit Ethernet digital industrial cameras and bespoke lighting. The Windows format is familiar to almost everyone, so the system is far easier to use than those based on proprietary software. With the 3D mapping compiled, the 2D
image or decoration is compared to it and adjusted for any surface irregularities. Although this represents a substantial amount of data process, it typically takes only about one second. From this data, the tracking path for the robot to apply the icing is calculated. Hinchcliffe added, “To ensure even
application, the robot keeps the icing gun
Left: the technology employed by Quasar Automation will transfer to many other applications, such as 3D glue laying, coating of unusually shaped objects, and accurate working with organic objects
Right: Mitsubishi
Electric’s F-series robots are based on a new mechanical design and can be floor, wall or ceiling mounted
(or other tool) at a precise height above the surface of the cake. It follows the major contours and also smaller local bumps, dips and discontinuities, so it is a very detailed profile of vertical movements.” The automated system not only produces a consistent quality of product, it does it in a predictable time, so that production runs can be properly planned and scheduled.
SPANNING APPLICATIONS While Quasar is largely focussed on applications in the food industry, Mitsubishi is taking a wider view, as Shinton explained. “What we have effectively done is replicate humans’ intuitive hand-eye coordination and ability to automatically compensate for variations, defects and discontinuities in real time. “This technology will transfer to many
other applications, such as 3D glue laying, coating of unusually shaped objects, and accurate working with organic objects. “In fact, it is really only manufactured
objects that are of regular size and shape, nearly everything else has a variable topography. So this new system could be useful in automating a great many currently manual processes.”
Mitsubishi Electric
gb3a.mitsubishielectric.com/fa/en T: 01707 288 769
Enter 214 AUTOMATION | MAY 2014 31
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