Robotics center wins grant for vision-guided pork processing

JULY 11, 2007--Ohio Northern University's Robotic Technology Center of Excellence has been awarded a $50,622 grant to fund a summer research project entitled "Vision Driven Robotic Processing for the Pork Skin Processing Industry." The grant was awarded by Rudolph Foods (Lima, OH, USA), the world's largest producer of pork rinds and related snacks. It will be used to develop new algorithms to improve the packaging and distribution of pork snack products.

ONU's Robotics Technology Center of Excellence (ONU; Ada, OH, USA; www.onu.edu), powered by KUKA Robotics (Clinton Township, MI, USA; www.kuka.com) technology, provides students with hands on design and programming experience using KUKA robots, controllers, and software. The university opened the center, located in Taft Memorial Hall on South Union Street in Ada, OH, in January 2007. Currently seven KUKA KR3 robots including KUKA controllers and software are being used at the center. Five of the robots are interfaced to PLCs and CNC machines in simulated manufacturing environments. Two are being used by their award winning competitive traveling robotics team as they go from competition to competition.

"This grant supports the reason why KUKA and other business work so closely with universities like ONU," said Stuart Shepherd, president of KUKA Robotics. "When the business community works together with universities to address and solve process issues like the ones presented by the pork industry everybody wins because fresh minds are allowed to develop solutions that have practical real world applications."