Guiding with vision and a firm grip conveys ultra efficiency down the line.

The future is here and now, and exceedingly clear for food processors requiring dynamic loading of randomly-oriented products into flow wrappers or trays at high rates of speed. Vision-guided pick and place robotics deliver maximum efficiencies at lower cost, which makes for greater competitiveness. And when it comes to designing systems customized to meet the demands of today's diversified frozen food businesses, BluePrint Robotics (BPR) is guided with the kind of 20-20 vision needed to expertly handle everything from poultry parts and hamburger patties to breakfast waffles and seafood.

Seeing that a gap had opened in the servicing of robotics equipment already on line at food processing plants and other installations in the USA, Martin Prakken, chief executive officer of the BluePrint Group, set out to recruit topnotch technical talent in the field to create BluePrint Robotics in 2003. Searching high and low, it was in the Rocky Mountain high state of Colorado where he found three accomplished engineers with the right mix of skills needed to get things rolling in Boulder.

The core competence of BluePrint Automation's relatively new operation consists of a triumvirate of former ABB robotics equipment specialists whom had worked together as a team for 18 years prior to joining BPR. During that time they were directly involved in over 200 projects, half of which involved packaging line installations.

"Now our focus is almost exclusively on the food processing sector," said Alan Beehler, director of operations. "Here in Boulder we are largely engaged in prototype design, validation testing and the de-bugging of customized vision guided robotics systems that operate at pick and place rates of 140 or more per minute per single pick. Higher throughput is achieved with multiple pick grip and/or multiple robots on line."

The man regarded as BluePrint's "vision guru" is Joe Crompton, director of software and controls engineering. His main focus in on collection of data with sophisticated vision systems that instantaneously pass critical information upstream the conveyor tracking flow where 4-6 -axis articulated ABB Delta FlexPicker packing robots or Scara models with multi-pick grippers swing into action to adroitly position foodstuffs into packages or trays.

The company's extraordinary, hands-on problem solver is Jerry Renoux, director of mechanical engineering. He is credited with figuring out a way to rapidly stack and pack into flow wrappers twin collections of six frozen pancakes as they zip down conveyor lines. Although not spelling out the patent-pending system's secret, he revealed: "It involves much more than just applying plastic grippers and suction. We are dealing with very specialized tooling for special products that make delicate handling and manipulation of foods possible at high speeds. Being able to do it just right takes a certain level of expertise and a lot of experience."

While involved in a myriad of applications ranging from engineering and installing dual-robot cookie capping systems that operate at 190 pieces per minute, to shepherding variety packs of chocolates or granola bars into boxes, BluePrint Robotics' primary business is serving the frozen food industry. Such activity accounts for 50% to 70% of revenues at the moment.

Among recent projects was the installation of two robots at a major imitation crab meat processing plant in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The client company produces 28 different kinds of surimi products made mainly from Alaska pollock raw material processed and formed into chunks, logs, flakes and other shapes.

It was a tricky challenge to develop software capable of managing frequent shifts in configuration as well as dealing with changes in package fill volumes from units of six sticks per thermoformed bag to as many as 50 or more for bulk packs. Complicating the task was "teaching" the robots how to precisely zero in to target, pick and place pieces of surimi that sometimes roll unexpectedly.

"Complete computer simulation with the client was conducted, in which all the angles were covered," said Crompton. "The mockup was as realistic as possible in terms of time and space, probably within 20 milliseconds of actuality."

"Receiving customer input from Day 1 is very important, as we believe strongly that projects should be engineered at the beginning--not at the end," added Beehler. "It's a lot easier to fix a problem before shipment than after the fact."

Most of BluePrint Robotics' installations include Swedish-made ABB Delta FlexPicker robots, which feature three light-weight carbon fiber arms capable of operating at clips of over 190 cpm. During 2004, which was its first full year of existence, BPR ranked as the biggest user of FlexPickers in the USA.

The company also specifies Scara picking robots, which while operating more slowly than Deltas at 120 cpm or less, are capable of handing higher payloads.

Increasingly in the frozen food industry, robots have moved forward to primary packaging zones from the tail end of production lines, where they used to serve almost exclusively as palletizers. Improvements in vision guidance and cost reductions, combined with the availability of easy-to-sanitize wash down configurations, is part of the reason for the widening employment of high-technology to solve production problems.

Granted, unlike the electronics and automobile industries, food processors were generally slow off the mark to invest in robotics. In the past many companies generally engaged additional labor to boost output.

Now, however, shortages of workers in some areas and the rising cost of human hands in other regions is making the option for high-tech solutions more attractive.

"Plant expansions due to rising throughput requirements are prompting our customers to choose vision-guided robotics," said Beehler. "They are not laying off people when automation is stepped up, but rather utilizing employees elsewhere in the factory."

Approximately 110,000 ABB robots are now at work in plants around the world, as they have become relatively affordable commodities that account for perhaps no more than 20% of the cost of many food processing systems in which they function. While Deltas are very much the heart of modern pick and place stations, it is in the enhancement of the overall system's brain power where BluePrint Robotics excels.

Typically a robot can do anything. The challenge is getting product to it for picking. That's where BPR's expertise shines, as its skilled engineers add value to the total operation by writing customized software programs and fine-tuning PC controls to individually address client needs.