The challenge
The “Y-cut” is the term used to describe the first two cuts on a sheep
processing line. Sheep are suspended from the chain by the legs, and a cut
is performed down the inside of each foreleg, to meet in the middle.
The intelligent Y-cutter
Watch how the Y-cutter tool head operates by clicking the above link. This is a simulation used by the design engineers to check how all parts of the tool head operate, before any of the parts are committed to manufacture.
Advantages of gas depelting
A method that uses compressed gas to separate pelt from carcass
The machine
Successfully executes automated gas depelting on both hind-legs simultaneously
A critical component is the injection needle which performs a dual function of penetrating the pelt and injecting gas
Machine performance is highly dependent on the precise position and orientation of the injection needle that is controlled by a 3DOF manipulator for each leg
A built-in cleaning system sanitises the blades after every injection.
The challenge
The machine
Our research scenario
Our interests lie in handling non-rigid objects such
as fruit, with variable size, shape, firmness and texture.
We have designed a robot gripper tool for grasping a fruit from its sides.
A depth image created from a stereo pair of images from a calibrated camera
is processed by a slice analysis algorithm, to identify individual objects.
The pose of each object is obtained from a blob analysis at a specified
depth.
Candidate pick points are identified, from which the best is selected and
its coordinates are calculated and sent to the robot.
The robot picks up the fruit and transfers it to the delivery point.
The research
The work undertaken uses a mobile robot equipped with sonar sensors.
Initially, the robot is instructed to compute a cognitive map of its environment. Since a robot is not a cognitive agent, it cannot, by definition, compute a cognitive map.
We approximate such a map by creating a network of local spaces, each being a rough estimate of local space, with known exit points.
The results
From the experiments, the robot was able to compute a rough representation of the places visited.
Our robot uses distance and orientation information to find its way home.
The process developed provides interesting insights into the nature of cognitive mapping and encourages us to use a mobile robot to do cognitive mapping in the future, as opposed to its popular use in robot mapping.
Different animals have different sensing capabilities. They live in different environments and face unique challenges. Consequently, they evolve to have different navigational strategies.
Two crucial items of information are inherent in all animals and are fundamental to navigation: distance and orientation.
Higher level animals may encode and may even prefer richer information to enhance the animal’s cognitive map. Nonetheless, distance and orientation will always be computed as a core process of cognitive mapping.
The desert ant, Cataglyphis fortis, can be up to 100 m from its nest foraging for food. However it is still able to navigate itself back to its nest. More impressively, it is able to determine the shortest route to get home.