Robotic cell with redundant architecture and force control: application to cutting and boning

Nowadays, companies in the abattoir and meat-cutting sector are encountering increasing difficulties in meeting their labor requirements. Therefore, the mechanization of these professions has become essential. The first part of this article involves on in-depth study of operators´ expertise, so as to translate their actions into automatable operative tasks and to identify the constraints of robotization. We detail more particularly a cutting strategy using a bone as a guide which shows the complexity of the process. The analysis of the cutting and task constraint parameters involves the use of a kinematically redundant robotized cell with force control. Then the cell model is developed, and experimentation is performed. This study was carried out within the framework of the SRDViand project in cooperation with meat industry partners.