Tomra Food says it has launched two artificial intelligence-powered sorting and grading solutions aimed at making the production of fresh and processed foods more efficient and profitable.
“We’ve been hearing a lot lately about artificial intelligence. The ability of computers to mimic human thought and decision-making, to automate tasks that traditionally required human intelligence, has stirred up all sorts of sensational news stories,” James French, head of innovation for Tomra Fresh Food, said in a news release.
The Tomra Neon pre-grades machine-harvested blueberries for the fresh market, while the new-generation Spectrim X series leverages deep learning for unmatched sorting and grading precision of fruit, the company said.
Tomra Food said it has been using AI since 2019 to make sorting and grading solutions more accurate than traditional techniques. The deployment of AI powered technology in the food production industry will continue to accelerate into the future, the release said.
AI is relevant for food production because of the high level of variability in the industry, from weather and climate effects to natural variations in products; these factors mean that traditional systems can have a tough time making accurate predictions, the release said.
As with traditional systems, the better the data, the better the decisions, Tomra Food said, adding that this is why having the best inspection and sensor systems are important. Collecting higher-quality data supercharges the AI system, which leads to more accurate and more consistent decisions that result in less food waste and more saleable product, as well as maximizing the product’s value, according to the release.
AI technology can improve sorting and grading machines in a number of ways: It can help make more accurate “accept or reject” decisions, recover more good product from compromised raw material through higher accuracy and more precisely classify the products on the line into different grades to enable hands-free production, the release said.
Developed by a team of scientists, engineers, researchers and experts, Spectrim X integrates the latest development of Tomra’s LUCAi deep-learning technology, the company said. Deep learning is an AI method which uses pretrained models to teach computers how to process data, such as complex patterns in photos.
Spectrim X assesses thousands of high-resolution, multichannel fruit images every second, then it cross-references what it sees with AI networks that have been trained on tens of thousands of fruits to make grading decisions to meet precise market demands, according to the release.
AI also powers the new Tomra Neon to pregrade blueberries. Tomra said automated blueberry harvesting is faster and less costly than manual harvesting but brings challenges in the form of unwanted debris and fruit clusters to fresh fruit processing and packing lines.
To address these challenges, Tomra Neon accepts and rejects fruit before transferring it directly onto Tomra’s KATO260 optical sorter and grader. It is by using AI that Tomra Neon is able to identify, differentiate and remove unwanted clusters, undersize fruit and unripe fruit, according to the release.
Tomra said AI’s capabilities in food processing will become even more important in the near future because of the increasing challenges presented by global food scarcity and disruptive weather events — and because there’s commercial pressure to provide the highest-quality ingredients and products even when input product quality is variable.
