Establishment of nonlinear modeling method for high-speed food handling

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K04406
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 20020:Robotics and intelligent system-related
• Research Institution: Ritsumeikan University
• Principal Investigator: Wang Zhongkui 立命館大学, 理工学部, 准教授 (50609873)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 川村 貞夫 立命館大学, 理工学部, 教授 (20186141) ; 平井 慎一 立命館大学, 理工学部, 教授 (90212167)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 食品粘弾性 / モデリング / 高速把持 / ロボットエンドエフェクタ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

One reason hindering the development of automation in the food industry is the lack of robotic end-effectors for handling food materials. To solve the problem, we studied food modeling, measurement of mechanical properties, and development of robotic end-effectors for high-speed handling of food products. A three-element model and parameter estimation method were proposed to reproduce the viscoelasticity of foods, and experimental verification was conducted using fried chicken and tempura foods. We also developed an experimental apparatus and measured food properties such as viscoelasticity, friction coefficient, and 3D shape, which are playing essential roles in robotic food handling. Based on the physical properties, a gripper for gripping fragile and slippery foods, a robotic hand for automatic arrangement of tempura, and a gripper for high-speed tray-loading of fried oysters were developed and experimentally validated.

Free Research Field

ロボティクス

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

学術的に，剛体物体の操作に関する研究が多く行われていたが，食品のような粘弾性がある柔らかい物体を高速で扱うときのモデリングと把持成功や失敗に繋がる理由はまだ解明されていない．本研究で提案した食品の粘弾性モデルとパラメータ推定手法や食品特性の計測は食品ハンドリングに特化した方法であり，食品の高速ハンドリングの解明に役に立つ．
社会的に，食産業の自動化に不可欠となるロボットエンドエフェクタはまだ少ない現状がある．特に，滑りやすい食品や脆弱食品を高速でハンドリングできるロボットエンドエフェクタはさらに稀少である．本研究で開発したいくつかのロボットエンドエフェクタはこの状況を改善することが期待できる．