RoboClean: Human robot collaboration for allergen-aware factory cleaning
In food and drink manufacturing a third of working time is spent cleaning, significantly affecting productivity and efficiency. This project seeks to understand and address the industry need for cleaning support technologies by developing and deploying human-robot collaboration.
Our co-bot will assist in the cleaning of factories and detect the unwanted presence of allergens to prevent food safety events. The internal cleaning of processing equipment has become a fully automated process known as 'clean-in-place' and is beginning to take advantage of novel technologies such as in-line sensors, the internet of things (IoT), and machine learning. However, cleaning the factory floor is still primarily completed by human workers following strict industry standards specified by the British Retail Consortium.
One of the biggest challenges facing manufacturers is the cross contamination of allergens within the manufacturing environment, and cleaning is a critical step in preventing this. This challenge is growing as manufacturers strive to provide more variety and alternative formulations, for example, gluten free.
The number of food safety events relating to all allergens has more than doubled between 2014 and 2017
- Food Standards Agency, 2018
We will investigate and demonstrate the potential of human-robot collaboration, integrated with IoT sensors, for cleaning and allergen detection on a factory floor.
The outcomes of this project will include the design, implementation, and evaluation of an interactive connected system enabling novel human-robot collaboration and sensor data collection in a factory by engaging with partners in industry (British Pepper and Spice) and the third sector (the Food and Drink Forum).
PI: Associate Professor Joel Fisher, Nicholas Watson, Brian Logan, Stuart Reeves
OUTPUTS
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