Soft Robotics to Demonstrate mGripAI for Food Picking at PACK EXPO 2023

Picking and packaging are among the robotics applications to see at Pack Expo. Soft Robotics Inc. plans to demonstrate its mGripAI system, which combines proprietary 3D vision, artificial intelligence, and soft grasping technologies, at PACK EXPO 2023.

"We're excited at the commercial traction that we're seeing with mGripAI," stated Harley Green, vice president of strategic accounts at Soft Robotics. "More and more machine builders are seeing the flexibility that mGripAI can offer in the design of new systems. Whether it's tray packing or loading other equipment for further processing, mGripAI can slot into an existing operation and have an immediate impact on yield."

Soft Robotics said it designs and builds systems to enable OEMs, systems integrators, and end users to automate complex production processes, particularly in the food industry. The Bedford, Mass.-based company will exhibit its high-speed picking systems in Booth N-10311 at PACK EXPO, which will be from Sept. 11 to 13 in the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Soft Robotics focuses on food

Soft Robotics claimed that mGripAI gives industrial robots the sensory, cognitive, and dexterous abilities of human workers to automate processes that previously could not be automated. The system is also intended to be easy to integrate, it said.

The company listed the following mGripAI benefits:

• Eliminates product presentation requirements and remove the burden on upstream processes
• Reduces dependency on unavailable labor
• Increases throughput
• Reduces automation footprint
• Food-safe with IP69K-rated, food-grade components

mGripAI to pick burger patties, chicken drumsticks

At PACK EXPO, Soft Robotics said it will demonstrate two mGripAI-powered applications:

• Tray packing burger patties directly from bulk: mGripAI will singulate patties from bulk and detect, present, and precisely orient grill marks as it packs them into neatly-styled trays upstream of a final sealing operation. The small system turns chaotic infeed directly into packaged product at a rate of up to 60 pieces per minute and is designed to fit, with minimal reconfiguration, into existing workspaces designed to accommodate human-centric processes.
• Tray packing chicken drumsticks from bulk: mGripAI will pick, orient, and tray pack chicken drumsticks at rates of up to 60 picks per minute with a single robot.

"Visitors to the Soft Robotics booth will also get a first-hand look at the power of mGripAI's intuitive and adaptable vision tools, which are making AI-enabled applications easier than ever to deploy," the company said in a release.

In addition, Green will speak at the event's Innovation Stage 1 (C-2051) from 11:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. PT on Tuesday, Sept. 12, in a session titled "Easy-to-Integrate AI-Enabled Food Picking Solutions."

Leading investors back Soft Robotics, including ABB Technology Ventures, Calibrate Ventures, FANUC, Honeywell Ventures, Hyperplane Venture Capital, Johnsonville, Marel, Material Impact, Scale Venture Partners, Tekfen Ventures, Tyson Ventures and Yamaha Motor Co.

Editor's note: For more about PACK EXPO, visit Robotics 24/7's special coverage page.