Smart materials technology for handling delicate objects

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While robots and imaging technologies are used in automated lines for handling a variety of objects, there is no grasping technology that can individually pick and place delicate items, such as fruits and vegetables, without damaging them or leaving marks. The absence of such a grasping technology forces the Canadian horticultural industry to rely heavily on manual labour. The Canadian farm industry, which is the fifth-largest importer ($40.3 billion) and exporter ($31.0 billion) of agri-food products in the world, accounts for over $46 billion in revenue in Canada alone and has grown on average by 1.4% per year since 1997. However, the industry faces very serious challenges to remaining globally competitive if picking and placing processes continue to involve the high costs of Canadian manual labour, which is currently the largest expense (31%) associated with horticultural products. In addition to reducing labour costs, an automated process would also reduce worker injury and disability - the highly repetitive tasks are both psychosocially and physically demanding. In this project, we propose a transformative technology, the Smart Adhering Interface (SAI), to directly address the needs of the Canadian horticultural industry and benefit the Canadian automation technology sector. The SAI consists of smart materials that, controlled by an external stimulus, deform, adhere, hold, and gently release delicate horticultural commodities. This radically novel approach, when coupled to a robotic manipulator, will enable picking and placing delicate items at high speed without damaging them or leaving any mark. Williams and White (W&W), the primary organization supporting this project, is a leader in the automation sector. Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, a horticultural research organization, will enable field trials in their facilities and will provide access to a large number of Canadian growers (end-users). With a primary goal of improving the growth of the supporting organizations and the Canadian farm industry, the SAI will also find use in other automation industries where delicate objects, such as bakery products, eggs, and many other industrial plastic, glass, metallic, and wood products, are handled.