

This gripping arm can lift goods just like an elephant’s trunk.
Now, a Danish research team has developed a robot to oversee the quality control of a local dairy’s cheeses, with monitoring taking place at the start of the process.
Typically, it’s at a late stage. The robot inserts two thin metal tubes into the cheese curd; these, in turn, send out near-infrared light.
The wavelengths of the returned light are analysed and provide information on the nutritional value and consistency of the cheeses.
If fat, protein or carbohydrate levels are off, production can be paused and adapted.
Next steps: establishing whether water can be saved or recycled during the process.
Intelligent control is already used for circular knitting machines.