So esh and so clean: automation for food and packaging operations

Edited by Mike Santora • Managing Editor

The food industry is booming — especially the fresh food business on the Internet. More and more fresh and processed foods, as well as ready-to-eat meals and convenience products, are being ordered online and must be produced and packaged with speed, e ciency, and tight control of hygienic conditions to maintain food quality.

This calls for ensuring that food and packaging technology is as agile and responsive as the front-end digital Internet technology driving growth. Automation and robot technology are, therefore, increasingly being used in logistics and warehousing for food and packaging companies. However, adding this technology only makes sense if the degree of automation can be adapted to the specific requirements of the company, enables a strong return on investment (ROI), and supports growth strategies.

The newest generation of smart, open automation platforms, like Bosch Rexroth’s ctrlX AUTOMATION, combine machine control, the IT world, and the Internet of Things (IoT), using fundamentally new, open software architecture. The ctrlX AUTOMATION platform includes advanced controller and drive hardware components, stateof-the-art software technologies for implementing IoT, artificial intelligence, security, and connectivity solutions for all PLC and motion tasks.

The platform’s foundation is its Linux realtime operating system, which is considered the most stable and secure of its kind. Thanks to the container technology of the operating system, all functions and applications can be mapped with separate apps and combined as desired.

The ctrlX CORE controller system used in CIMCORP’s robot solutions combines compact size and lighter weight with Linuxbased multicore technology that breaks down the boundaries between embedded system platforms and drive-based technology.

Openness, simplicity, and safety in automation

Platforms like ctrlX AUTOMATION are taking a new, smartphone-inspired approach to programming automation functions. Just as society now uses apps to individually adapt smartphones to a user’s needs, automation OEMs and end-users can now do the same.

O ering both versatility and scalability, the ctrlX DRIVE system covers both simple single-axis applications and complex multi-axis machine systems, enabling faster implementation of coste ective individual solutions that grow as requirements evolve.

Machine builders can choose apps from the automation platform provider and use apps from third-party suppliers or even apps created by OEMs or end-users in the food processing and packaging industry, thereby expanding the range of options supported to meet specific and unique operational needs. Existing code can also be integrated as an app for real-time and non-real-time applications. There is a free choice of programming language; C++, Python, Java, and many more are supported.

How fresh food automatically has a longer shelf life

A leading supplier of e-commerce intralogistics technologies has upgraded its robotic technology to leverage multiple ctrlX AUTOMATION capabilities. CIMCOROP

MCORP’s robotic material handling systems for food processing and logistics operations, like this gantry robot, use the advanced capabilities of the ctrlX AUTOMATION platform to accelerate processes in order processing and shipping.