Potential of Robotics Use in Food Industry and Future Prospects

Abstract

Global population is incredibly increasing now a days that in turns causes upsurge in consumer’s demand about the wider variety of food, their concerns about quality, safety, nutrition & hygiene of food is increasing. Using traditional production and processing methods makes impossible to meet demands and would lead to malnutrition. In order to meet such desires, there is need to develop automated robotic systems which have enhanced economic efficiency, hygiene, quality and are eco-friendly & safe. Robots are part of autonomic system of food industry Which reduce operational cost and time. Such robotic systems require less or no labour and essentially have capacity to transform the processes in food handling, processing, packaging, palletizing as well as food serving. The process parameters, type of industry, size of product and nature of the product either it is fragile, perishable or not have a significant impact on Robotic system specificity. Processing of meat and fish in meat industry, milking in dairy industry and handling of non-rigid food products, harvesting and packaging operations has increased the use of robotics in recent years due to its characteristic like increased production more speed and less chance of error. Such technological advancements have replaced traditional laborious slow processes by enhancing production, food safety and quality. Also, these should be adopted in all type of large- and small-scale industries because they provide a wider range of potential for production, development and commercialization providing healthy, safe & aesthetically pleasing food to the consumers.