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Always looking for improvements and with an ambition to offer customers the highest quality, British machine builder Extractacore partnered with QING to make existing machines run even more efficiently.

Extractacore focuses on automating vegetable cutting and processing processes, developing advanced machines that use robotics and Vision to remove core from iceberg lettuce, among other things. The systems are designed to maximize speed, precision and yield, with minimal waste.

Assignment

Extractacore

Issue

Reducing waste

Applied tools and expertise:

STAQ Food Automation
Processing systems
Vision AI

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Unnecessary product loss

Conventional vision systems in the food processing industry are increasingly running into their limits. One of the most common consequences is a high rate of waste. This is because no two heads of lettuce or vegetables are the same: the shape, size and position of the core vary from product to product. To ensure complete removal of the core, these systems often cut too widely, resulting in unnecessary product loss.

Extractacore also ran into this problem. Although their machine already worked with a vision system, that system was limited: it relied only on color, not orientation and positioning. As a result, the blade could not always be positioned correctly, resulting in too much waste. In some cases, this amounted to as much as 30% product loss.

Precision as a solution by Vision AI

With the understanding that something had to change, Extractacore began looking for a partner who could help increase efficiency and significantly reduce waste. When they came to QING, it was quickly apparent that the solution lay in applying Vision AI.

With the Robovision AI platform, QING integrated STAQ software into Extractacore's existing line. STAQ stands for See, Think, Act by QING: an AI-driven control software that allows vision, AI and robotics to work together seamlessly.

In this project, STAQ's See and Think components were added to the existing system, while the existing robot(Act) was retained. By extending the system with AI-driven control software and a 3D camera, the exact position and orientation for each head of lettuce can now be determined at a rate of one head per second.

The Vision AI determines how to position the blade to accurately remove the core, without cutting away unnecessary parts of the lettuce. The robot then performs that action automatically. The system works not only for iceberg lettuce, but also for other vegetables where the core or stem must be removed prior to further processing.

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The result in figures

Up to 90% less waste: waste rate reduced from 30-40% to only 3-5%.
Higher efficiency: thanks to AI-driven control, the system runs more stably and consistently 24/7.
Data insight: the machine collects valuable data on performance and product variations.
Scalable solution: the approach is easily applicable in other Extractacore machines.

By cleverly using Vision AI and STAQ technology, Extractacore and QING prove that automation and sustainability can perfectly go hand in hand.

Learn more about our processing systems