Robotic removal of button bone and flat bone after striploin chine bone removal – Stage 1 practical feasibility

This project funded the examination of the feasibility of automating the manual task of button bone and flat bone removal from a beef striploin primal piece. The boning practices examined included the use of a powered rotary wizard cutter for button bone removal and a standard butcher’s knife to separate the flat bones.

Video recordings of the task were analysed, and the variability of the striploins were assessed. The approach to automation considered methods of fixation and sensing to identify the profile of the bones.

The feasibility for sensing using low-cost imaging and laser range sensing for robot guidance to perform separation of the button and flat bones has been reached and practically demonstrated using a unique robotic system.