Brisket ShearTM
A Precision-cutting Tool to Guarantee Product Quality
Benefits
- Dramatically reduces the incidence of internal organ puncturing
- Isolates personnel from dangerous equipment
- Allows reallocation of the existing labour unit to another division within the plant
- Performs accurate cuts facilitating smooth downstream processing
Background
Research into brisket cutter technology has been driven through an industry-funded project led and co-funded by Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) and Food Science Australia (FSA). Designed to eliminate the manual operation of an industrial-sized circular saw or hydraulic knife device (brisket cutter), the brisket cutter prototype has been successfully developed by FSA. Automation technology, designed and applied by automation and robotics experts Machinery Automation & Robotics (MAR) will transform the revolutionary brisket cutter prototype into a fully functional solution for the meat industry
The current manual system requires the operator to use either the circular saw or brisket shear tool to complete the task. The circular saw is run down the brisket bone at the point where the ribs meet and tests the operator's skill in avoiding damage to the carcass' internal organs. Similarly, the operator must use extreme care not to skewer any organs whilst performing the task with the brisket cutter: after opening the belly of the carcass with a knife, the operator must skillfully insert the jaw of the brisket cutter behind the animal's ribs without piercing the organs prior to activating the device.
Operated manually, the brisket cutter is generally inserted right of centre on the brisket bone to ensure the heart, to the left of the bone, is not damaged.
The automated system, in which the robot is directed by a 3D modelling laser camera, will guarantee a consistently accurate cut to the brisket bone. Upon completion of the cut to the carcass, the brisket shear tool will be sterilised automatically to reduce any risk of cross-carcass contamination.
The Next Step
MAR has 23 years of robotics and visioning expertise and has been selected by MLA to integrate the automated Brisket ShearT into an Australian processing plant. MLA and MAR are currently seeking R&D partners to develop the brisket cutter prototype into a commercially viable solution for the Australian meat industry at large.