OMRON supports Intelligent Robotics to develop world-first AI driven beef cutting technology

OMRON is proud to support the team at Intelligent Robotics Pty Ltd in the development of a world-first AI driven automated beef scribing system.

Intelligent Robotics has been collaborating with Queensland-based Global Foods (KGF) and the Australian Meat Processor Corporation for the launch of this ground-breaking new robotic carcase cutting technology – the first automated beef scribing system in Australia.

The IR-SCRIBE robotic carcase cutting technology is designed to improve the beef processing industry’s accuracy, yield, labour efficiency and safety.

Installed at the KGF plant at Kilcoy, north of Brisbane, the new technology is being trialled over 12-months to determine if it can achieve the necessary performance benchmarks, at chain operation speed. KGF’s primary processing facility is regarded as one of the most modern meat processing plants in Australia.

The robotic scribing uses 3D cameras, vision processing, imaging cameras and AI tasks to find where each cut needs to be made. This gives boners the right pattern to follow, to optimise carcase yields.

The new automated process does not require X ray imaging – greatly reducing complexity and cost.

This innovative system aims to mitigate the inherent risks associated with beef scribing, traditionally considered one of the most perilous tasks in the industry.

Cutting-edge equipment

By leveraging OMRON's cutting-edge CIP Safety technology, the IR-SCRIBE system establishes seamless connectivity between Robotics, Safety I/Os and Safety PLCs.

The team at Sydney-based Intelligent Robotics are highly experienced engineers with a proven track record of developing and bringing to market new and innovative automation and robotic technologies. 

Working closely with the IR team, OMRON supplied several key automation components to help streamline the beef scribing production line.

OMRON puts safety first

The new system includes our state-of-the-art NX-SL5 safety controller as well as a NX102 machine automation controller, power supplies, safety relays and more.

OMRON’s versatile NX-SL5 safety controller with EtherCAT and EtherNet/IP capabilities, for integrated or stand-alone solutions, makes machine safety much simpler. 

With automatic programming, simple automatic test and data logging, the NX-SL5 reduces the time required for machine safety programming, verification and troubleshooting.

“We’re proud to support the Intelligent Robotics engineering team in their development of this ground-breaking new meat processing system,” says OMRON NSW Manager Allan Leung.

“Intelligent Robotics are leading the way in innovative robotics technology and this collaboration has been a perfect match.

“We look forward to working with their highly skilled engineering team on future projects.”

Outstanding technical support

Intelligent Robotics’ Senior Project Engineer Todd Enfield said: “We selected the OMRON NX-SL5 safety controller because it has CIP Safety over Ethernet/IP and Functional Safety Over Ethernet in the same controller.

“For the IR-SCRIBE system, we used both network protocols simultaneously.

“This provided us the flexibility to network to multiple safety devices, the robotics system, and our overall control system platform.

“Assistance with initial product selection and ongoing technical support provided by the local OMRON team in Sydney was outstanding.”

Todd says the recent collaboration not only enhances workplace safety but also marks a significant milestone in advancing the field of intelligent automation. 

See the world-first IR-SCRIBE system in action HERE.