38 n MACHINE VISION April 2026 www.drivesncontrols.com How AI and machine vision are revolutionising cheese-making Cheese consumption is booming globally, and producers are facing increasing challenges as they scale up production. Labour shortages are driving dairies to adopt automation to increase their efficiency. Sustainability is also becoming a key concern, with an increased focus on reducing waste and conserving resources. At the same time, consumers are demanding higher-quality products with more variety, further intensifying pressure on producers. Baldauf Käse is a family-owned German dairy located in the Allgäu region of southern Germany. Founded in 1862, it specialises in traditional cheeses made from locally sourced hay milk. To tackle these issues, it has commissioned an automated cheese-monitoring system, that combines a mobile robot and a machine vision system. The process begins by inspecting wheels of cheese for defects, such as mould or blemishes. A 4K camera captures highresolution images, which are analysed using advanced machine-vision algorithms in MVTec’s Halcon software. The software uses deep-learning techniques to detect anomalies, reducing process deviations and waste. The data is stored and can be accessed via a Web interface, enabling remote monitoring and control. Simultaneously, the mobile machine checks the cheese wheels to ensure that the rind is forming correctly and that any unwanted smear layers are removed. The system not only reduces the need for manual inspection, but also improves the consistency and quality of the final product. A significant challenge when developing the inspection system was the natural variability of cheese. Each wheel is different and undergoes significant changes during the ripening process, making rule-based machine vision methods less effective. “The cheese-ripening process, which can last up to 14 months, requires constant monitoring to avoid mould and ensure quality,”explains Dorian Köpfle, a machine vision engineer with Eberle Automatische Systeme, which developed the system.“Manually inspecting thousands of cheese wheels is virtually impossible, which is why Baldauf, a traditional dairy, turned to us for an automated solution.” Eberle’s aim was not only to automate the inspection process, but also to integrate AI into the cheese-ripening workflow. Currently, the system performs real-time inspections and autonomous care, with minimal human A German cheese-maker is using a vision system and machine-learning algorithms to detect any defects in its cheeses, thus boosting its efficiency, reducing its need for manual inspections, cutting waste, and improving quality control. Cameras (in the blue housings) acquire images of the cheese wheels inside the auomated transport system. The cheese wheels are removed automatically from warehouse shelves by a machine
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