March 2021

32 n FOOD AND BEVERAGE March 2021 www.drivesncontrols.com Making the connection for cheese-handling robots M aturation is an important process in cheese production. The longer a cheese matures, the more flavourful it becomes and the more potent its aroma becomes. But the ripening process involves a lot of work. The loaves must be brushed regularly with brine. In the past, this was done almost exclusively by hand and required considerable effort. In modern cheese cellars, the brine brushing is done automatically. Kaesaro, a company based in the Swiss town of Diepoldsau, develops and produces cheese cellar robots to perform this task in conjunction with intralogistics systems. The cheeses are transported by automated transport systems – sometimes individually, sometimes in groups of up to 250 – and fed to the robots, which treat them with brine using brushes of varying hardness. The cheeses are then returned to their storage places by the automated systems, where they stay for several months – in some cases, for more than a year – to achieve the desired degree of ripeness, before they are sold. Cheese plants operate continuously as far as possible – 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Making connections between the cheesemaking automation equipment and a dairy’s control systems, poses some challenges. Firstly, the environment has to be extremely hygienic, which is why regular cleaning is needed, sometimes using aggressive cleaning agents and involving high pressures. Due to the constant transport of the cheeses, the connectors need to be moved frequently. Kaesaro uses M12 connectors specially designed for the food industry to connect the sensors and actuators on its cheese robots. These Murrelektronik F&B Pro connectors comply with EHEDG (European Hygienic Engineering and Design Group) specifications. Any corners and edges where dirt could accumulate have been eliminated and the cables are wrapped in a blue sheath which makes it easy to spot any contamination caused by milk, saline lye or mould in the cheese plant. n Cheesemaking is a complex operation involving a combination of skill and science. Automation is increasingly being introduced into the process – and with it the need for components, such as connectors, that will ensure hygiene and make plants easier to clean. In modern cheesemaking plants, automated systems now perform the vital task of brushing cheeses with brine UK firm develops robotic canteen for the post-Covid era A UK ROBOTICS START-UP has demonstrated a pre- production version of an automated food-serving machine that it predicts will revolutionise how and what people eat in restaurants, canteens and other locations, as demand for personalised nutrition grows and the catering industry looks for new ways to operate in a post-Covid world. Karakuri, founded in London in 2018, has already attracted more than £13.5m in funding from investors including the online supermarket Ocado. The company’s DK-One automated canteen combines robot, sensing and control technologies to offer freshly prepared hot and cold meals. It uses a Kuka robot. Customers can customise and place their orders from a phone or in-store tablet. The robot prepares each meal individually, accurately combining up to 18 hot or cold ingredients. It can prepare multiple orders at the same time. The ingredients can include wet, dry, soft, or hard food items, which the machine places onto plates, bowls or other containers. The temperature of each ingredient can be controlled from below 8ºCto above 65ºC. Up to 100 meals can be produced per hour with the typical serving time from an order being placed to delivery being less than three minutes. Typically, the machine will produce one dish every 36 seconds. Karakuri says that the DK-One machine offers: n Consumer choice It allows customers to order personalised hot and cold meals with accurate portion sizes, giving traceability, nutrient and calorie counts, and the quantities involved for each meal. n Reduced food wastage through the provision of accurate portions and real-time data on ingredient usage. n Safety and hygiene The machine minimises human-to-human contact during meal preparation and adheres to food and safety standards for hygiene and allergen separation. It provides real-time monitoring of ingredient temperatures, stocking dates and refill times. “We’ve spent time talking to our customers and industry specialists, and seen huge enthusiasm for DK-One’s potential,”says Karakuri’s co-founder and CEO, BarneyWragg. On-site trials of the machine are taking place this year. Karakuri’s robotic canteen can deliver a dish every 36 seconds