Incredipack - robotic packing for delicate produce II

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Packing fresh produce is a continued challenge for commercial tomato growers and packing operations alike.Hygiene is a major concern. In addition to the new challenges brought about by Covid-19 there are several viruses and diseases which are carried by humans which if undetected, can lead to spoiling of product and even disease transmission to consumers. Keeping the packing environments clean (to food hygiene standards) with so much human intervention is an ongoing and major concern for the industry.Due to Covid-19 and the UKs exit from the EU there are increasing labour mobility concerns in most markets, which are leading to unpredictable labour availability and increased packing costs.Xihelm have secured IUK funds to combat these challenges and aim to bring a new robotic solution to enable packing to be automated.The robots will re-use & extend core technology developed by Xihelm in their harvesting systems, which uses state-of-the-art 3D vision Artificial Intelligence technology. This technology allows the robots to learn and "see" the goods to pack, before picking and packing them in containers.It is an exciting project which is expected to deliver robots to packing locations in the UK and Europe in 2 years' time.It is expected the technology can be further developed to improve productivity and food safety standards in other markets and have application in environments which are inhospitable to humans.