Mitsubishi Electric robot emulates intuitive human cake icing movements

Quasar 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 they have 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, explains 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.

Hinchcliffe goes on to say that Quasar specialises in automation for the food industry and in recent years has developed a growing interest in the potential of robots for food applications. He was recently invited to Mitsubishi Electric''s UK headquarters where he was given a demonstration of a new robot range designed for the hygienic industries such as food manufacture.

The F-series robots are based on a revolutionary 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, Product Manager – Business Solutions & Software, Automation Systems Division of Mitsubishi Electric Europe''s UK Branch comments: “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 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.” ...