Project Spotlight

Automated Loading of Shackle Line After Chiller

Photographic sequence of the robotic cell placing a bird onto a shackle during laboratory experiment.

Research Focus

The goal of Georgia Tech’s automated shackle line loading project is to develop cost-effective automation that can be integrated with a commercial singulation machine to provide intelligent hardware to rehang birds onto shackles after an immersion water chiller.

Background and Challenges

In a majority of poultry plants in the United States, an immersion water chiller is used to chill birds. After exiting the chiller, the birds are manually transferred to a shackle line for further processing. This is an extremely tedious task that typically requires two to four people to meet production requirements. The task is further complicated by the unstructured nature of the process. Birds are dropped from the chiller in random positions onto a rehang table. Here they are manually rehung onto a shackle line, often while also being graded.

There are growing problems with this process. For one, the continual reliance on the human worker to perform this type of task is putting stress on an already limited labor pool. In addition, the constant potential for injury, due to the repetitive nature of the job, adds to concerns. Finally, there is the desire to integrate product distribution and grading under a more automated format that enhances process performance. Project

Overview

The research focus of the automated shackle-loading project is to integrate a vision system into a robotic work cell to identify the position and orientation of the bird and guide the robot such that it can grasp the bird and place it onto a shackle. Because there is such variability in the location and orientation of the bird as well as the size of each bird, it is critical to have a vision system to handle these variations. The research team has shown the ability to perform both tasks by successfully designing an end-effector and developing a vision system.

The pneumatic end-effector is made completely of USDA-approved materials and meets sanitation requirements. It is capable of grasping and loading birds ranging in weight from 4 to 6.75 pounds. The vision system is capable of identifying the bird on a conveyor and calculating its center of gravity and orientation relative to the robot. The vision system is also capable of identifying if the bird is lying breast up or breast down.

Future Directions

The automated shackle-loading project is one of many research and development activities the research team is actively pursuing. The work is part of Georgia Tech’s continued commitment to developing automation for the food processing industry. For more than 15 years, Georgia Tech engineers have addressed the automation challenge by developing methods and systems to automatically perform varying functions in poultry and food processing operations. At the same time, researchers are continuing to bring economical automation alternatives to the food processing industry by working with food processing companies, equipment manufacturers, and the research community.

The project is a joint effort between Georgia Tech’s Agricultural Technology Research Program (ATRP) and the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. Gary McMurray, research engineer with ATRP, and Harvey Lipkin, associate professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering, serve as project co-directors. Other participants include Olivier Celton and Christophe Coquemond, interns from Enim University in France. Funding for the project is being provided by ATRP and the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association.