Current food automation efforts imitate industrial robots for manufacturing and have been too costly to implement at a large scale. Our team diverges from this approach by developing a novel strategy to autonomous food manipulation using an opposing gantry system. This system constrains the robot to operations within a two-dimensional plane, reducing the cost and complexity compared to traditional automation efforts. This innovation has allowed the team to create a robot capable of demonstrating this form of ingredient manipulation, something that has yet to be accomplished in industry. The opposing gantry automation approach is laying the groundwork for the industry to alleviate staffing demands and opening the door for accessible food options for all.

• This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

Creator

• Faber, Trevor
• Balquin, Matthew
• Hodges, Samson
• Moynihan, Ethan

Subject

• Health
• Sustainability
• Innovation
• Food
• Industry
• Computing
• Inclusion
• Culture
• Project-Based Learning
• Infrastructure
• Learning
• Well-Being
• Community

Publisher

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Identifier

• E-project-042924-014938
• 121966

Advisor

• Levey, Fiona
• Radhakrishnan, Pradeep
• Tang, Bo

Year

• 2024

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• 2 - Zero Hunger

Date created

• 2024-04-29

Resource type

• Major Qualifying Project

Major

• Computer Science
• Mechanical Engineering
• Robotics Engineering
• Electrical & Computer Engineering

Source

• E-project-042924-014938

Rights statement

• In Copyright