Abstract:
Beverage production is one of the major food processing industries in the world. In
Sri Lanka, some of the production processes in the beverage industry are automated
and some are not. It is identified that in production lines, the fallen bottles are
handled manually, which increases production downtime. Bottle repositioning is a
labor-intensive task. I suggest specifying the human errors and safety risks that are
unavoidable. It is a major concern to develop an automated production line for
repositioning fallen bottles. Manual handling will increase the manufacturing lead
time and decrease production profits. Therefore, a framework is designed from an
automated approach implementing artificial intelligence (AI) and robotic
technologies to detect and reposition fallen bottles, minimizing production
inefficiencies and I suggest specifying the ergonomic hazards. The proposed
strategy utilizes computer vision techniques to identify fallen and upright bottles by
their orientation from the camera live feed. Pose estimation techniques calculate the
spatial coordinates, distance from the base of the robotic arm, and angles of fallen
bottles. This pose data is transferred to arm controller software running inverse
kinematics algorithms, which generate accurate G-code instructions for the robotic
arm. The two microcontrollers in the system execute these instructions which enable
the robotic arm to reposition fallen bottles correctly. The developed prototype
accurately classifies the “Fallen” and “Upright” bottles, by detecting the fallen
bottles by determining their poses using computer vision techniques and making
robotic arm manipulation using the generated G-code through inverse kinematics to
put down the falling bottles. These procedures ensure accurate bottle handling in
production lines. In addition, this system provides a lower cost of manual labor and
an improved product. Furthermore, it eliminates ergonomic hazards associated with
manual interventions thereby improving workplace safety. The combination of
artificial intelligence and robotics can optimize industrial processes, improving
operational efficiency and establishing safer workplaces.
