Raytec Vision is a company that specializes in the production of sorting machines for food quality. Raytec Vision sorting machines are designed to meet this challenge by providing a highly accurate and reliable sorting system. These machines use advanced imaging technology to inspect each individual product and remove any defective or contaminated items. The machines can detect defects such as foreign bodies, discoloration, and misshapen products, and remove them from the production line.
The food industry is highly competitive, and the demand for high-quality products is increasing. Food processing companies are under immense pressure to deliver products that are of the highest quality. One of the biggest challenges faced by food processing companies is ensuring that the food products meet the required standards.
It was just following this rule that in 2019 at Cibus Tec show, Raytec Vision presented Curiosity, the very first optical sorter based on the multispectral analysis of fresh-cut products, built in full compliance with the EHEDG guidelines and following the rigid dictates of “totally hygienic design”. The great advantage of Curiosity is that it can be quickly sanitized. Each component of the machine is designed to be disassembled and cleaned by the sanitation team, without the use of tools. The most important example is about the inspection belt that carries the raw material that must be cleaned frequently and quickly to avoid generating too long stops on the production process.
The Curiosity main belt can be disassembled, cleaned and reassembled in a very short time with a considerable saving of water and without the use of chemical detergents.
To all these important features we must also add the ability to sort a wide range of food products thanks to the Decaray, the 10-frequency multispectral technology developed by Raytec for many of its latest sorting machines.
The first company taking profit of these advantages and innovations was Dole who wanted the Model 1800 for their plant based in Soledad in the United States, to be the first salad plant to comply with the EHEDG guidelines. Regarding this collaboration, Mark Martin Director of Engineering and Maintenance at Dole said: “Having developed this type of machine was a challenge, but we have found in Raytec a partner able to understand and create a product that fully meets our needs”.
Another important news by Raytec Vision is Opportunity, the brand-new optical food sorter which is going to change the rules of food sorting. The first innovative aspect of this machine is artificial intelligence (Deep Learning) based on self-learning which ensures a 100% product quality control. Opportunity is able to perform a real-time “identikit” each product, on each side. This enables to identify even the slightest defect and presence of necrotic in any part of the food’s shape.
The great advantage of artificial intelligence is that the machine is “trained” with the acquisition of many images and easily adapts to the growing needs of quality control. Thanks to the roller belt (spin belt) that makes products rotate, and matrix cameras that capture the entire frame of the rolling product, the machine enables increased product quality, completely replacing manual sorting. Opportunity can be adapted to the selection of different types of products. With its compact design and ability to communicate with other machines, Opportunity can be easily placed within processing lines to contribute to complete production automation.
