rooms the beds are the same length as in the pinning rooms and the shelving can be tilted to a 60 degree angle. Each bed is made up of two 75 cm wide sections that tilt independently towards the picker. The pickers harvest the mushrooms using both hands and place them with the stumps intact on a conveyor running along the beds. A platform also runs along the length of the bed so the pickers have space to move, and two pickers can also work at the same bed if necessary. The mushrooms are transpor- ted by the belt to separate area on a higher sto- rey where the stems are trimmed to the right length, Various vision systems assess the size and check whether the caps are closed. A robot developed by TLT then lifts the mushrooms from the belt and places them in a punnet. The system can grade up to 11 different sizes at the same time. The punnets are filled based on weight and then proceed to a central conveyor. No punnets or trays are taken into the harves- ting rooms. The robots are suspended in a fixed frame and four robots, which are not mobile, are required in each room. It is quite easy to further automate the punnet transport system to a level that will eventually eliminate the use of the blue crates. The suction cups that lift the mushrooms also ensure that 90% of the punnets contain neatly positioned, caps up mushrooms for high


quality presentation. The stumps are also remo- ved by an automatic transport system. The prin- ciple of this farm, Muzzroom, was developed entirely based on a unique concept of TLT Auto- mation, which enabled finetuned logistics and air distribution systems to be integrated. This degree of customisation means the system can- not be retrofitted into an existing system without making concessions. The TLT concept also assumes that the mushrooms are still pic- ked manually, but that all further processes are automated. As Jan-Emiel Tack said during his presentation in Heilbronn: “In our system, all the sensitive electronics are installed outside the rooms. Growers can decide whether to still use human labour to take the mushrooms from the belt and pack the punnets, or have this work done by robots. It’s obviously a cheaper option to stay manual, but ultimately the robot will pay for itself especially in high-wage regions such as Western Europe, North America and Australia. Because we designed our own farm with Stefaan Lapierre, we also engineered our own machines. We think a growing room of 540 square metres is ideal as it allows four pickers to harvest 135 square metres each from two rows of shelving and has the right dimensions for good air distribution. www.tltautomation.com


The Axis system


The Axis concept differs to a great extent from systems that preferably require a new build as it is relatively simple to install in existing farms with Dutch type shelving systems. There must be sufficient space though, and preferably also some space to place the machines in front of the shelving on one side of the room. The system consists of a conveyor with fingers that can hold mushrooms in various sizes. It is mounted to the shelving and can be raised and lowered by a lift. The pickers select the mushrooms using the two-hand technique and place them on the holding fingers on the belt that goes around the shelving once. The Axis processing units are placed over the harvesting conveyors on one side of the shelving. These units slice away the stumps, automatically grade the mushrooms by size and place them in punnets which all contain similar sized mushrooms. Each punnet is indivi- dually weighed and ejected once the pre-set weight is achieved. One person then places them in larger crates for further processing and packing. At this point, further automation is also possible. The machines are raised and


lowered with the entire system to enable all the individual beds to be picked. Depending on the dimensions of the growing room, the harvest manager decides how many pickers are needed for one bed, usually one person on each side of the shelving. This system has been operating for some time at Highline Mushrooms in Canada (see MB109), where the belts with fingers run outside the growing rooms to where the proces- sing units are located. The Axis system has also recently been added to the shelving in, for the time being, two growing rooms at the farm of Marco Deckers in Gelder-Pont, Germany. The machines here have been placed in the growing rooms and the shelves shortened slightly to accommodate them. No other modifications were required to the existing shelving and rooms, except installing the harvesting conveyor with the fingers and the power connections for the machine control system, one for each row of shelving. Richard Greer of Axis provided some additional information in Heilbronn: “Develop- ments started at Axis with a movable machine. The picker placed the mushrooms in the machine, which then cut and graded them. This was based on the old, bag growing system used in Ireland. As shelving replaced bags, we


Greer: ‘Our


system can be integrated into existing farms


without having to modify the shelving’





Continued on page 42. MUSHROOM BUSINESS 39


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