Automated Live-bird Handling The research team Representative paper Patent Other publications Feature Article The Research Team Georgia Tech researchers together with poultry scientists from the University of Georgia (UGA) have been experimentally testing the potential of a live-bird hanging system. Known as the Intelligent Transfer project, this joint research endeavor is focused on developing a system that automates the processes of singulating birds, detecting and removing cadavers, and grasping birds by their legs and mechanically hanging them on a moving shackle line. The Georgia Agriculture Technology Research Program (in cooperation with the Georgia Poultry Federation with funding from the Georgia Legislature) and the US Poultry and Eggs Association have jointly funded this project.     Dr. Kok-Meng Lee, Principle Investigator George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA 30332-0405 Co-Principle Investigators Henry Cotton Agricultural Technology Research Program Georgia Tech Research Institute Atlanta, GA 30332-0823 Dr. Michael P. Lacy Dr. A. Bruce Webster Dr. Julie K. Northcutt University of Georgia (UGA) College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Athens, GA 30602-4356 Other Participants: Jacob Leverett, Wiley Holcomb,Sean Thomas Agricultural Technology Research Program Georgia Tech Research Institute Atlanta, GA 30332-0823 Jeffry Joni, Herman Sasmita, Chris Shumway,  Matt Summers, Xuecheng Yin, GRA's The George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA 30332-0405

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Lee, K.-M., "Design Criteria for developing an Automated Live Bird Transfer System," Proceedings of the 2000 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA'2000), April 24-28, San Francisco, CA. Also in IEEE Trans. on Robotics and Automation, Vol. 17, Issue 4, Aug. 2001 pp. 483-490.

Motivation and Problem Statement: The repetitive task of transferring live objects, which typically characterized by varying sizes and shapes, and have natural reflexes, is often laborious and hazardous.  We present the method to automate the process of transferring singulated live birds from a moving conveyor onto a processing line without causing damage or stress.

Techniques and Approach: The system uses revolving flexible fingers to manipulate the leg kinematics of the bird on a moving conveyor so that both legs of the bird are inserted into the shackle. We use motion simulation to trade-off between the bird stability and the insertion requirement for a range of size variation.

Experimental Results:
Twelve different experimental trials were conducted with 120 novice broilers from a poultry processing plant to examine the effects of the key design parameters and to evaluate the system performance. The experiment shows that the bird's visual reflex and initial posture play a significant role in the system performance.

Conclusions
The design principles for developing an automated live-bird transfer system have been developed.  Along with the identification of key parameters that significantly affect the system performance, the system was experimentally evaluated using live broilers.  The system has the ability to accommodate a limited range of varying sizes, shapes, and some natural bird's reaction to grasping.

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Lee, K.-M., "Mechanical Live Broiler Inverter,"  Patent application pending.

1. Lee, K.-M., "On The Development of a Compliant Grasping Mechanism for On-line Handling of Live Objects, Part I: Analytical Model," Proc. of the IEEE/ASME AIM’99, Atlanta GA, September 18-23, 1999, pp 354-359.
2. Lee, K.M. A. B. Webster, J. Joni, X. Yin, R. Carey, M. P. Lacy, R. Gogate 1999, "On the Development of a Compliant Grasping Mechanism for On-line Handling of Live Objects, Part II: Design And Experimental Investigation," Proc. of the IEEE/ASME AIM’99, Atlanta GA, USA, September 18-23, 1999, pp. 360-366.
3. Lee, K-M., "Kinematic Analysis of a High-speed Live Broiler Transfer Mechanism," Proc. of the 2000 Japan-USA Symposium on Flexible Manufacturing Systems, July 23-26, Arbor, MI.
4. Lee, K-M., J. Joni, and X. Yin, "Imaging and Motion Prediction for an Automated Live-Bird Transfer Process," Proceedings of the ASME Dynamic Systems and Control Division-2000, Nov. 5-10, Orlando, FL, vol. 1, pp. 181-188.
5. Lee, K-M., J. Joni, and X. Yin, "Compliant Grasping Force Modeling for Handling of Live Objects," Proc. of the 2001 IEEE ICRA, May 21-26, Seoul, Korea, pp. 1059-1064.
6. Lee, K-M. and X. Yin, “Design Algorithm for Automated Dynamic Grasping of Live Birds,”  IEEE/ASME AIM’01 Proceedings, July 8–11 2001,  Como, Italy, pp. 207-212.
7. Webster, A. B. and K.M. Lee, “Toward Automation of the Transfer of Broilers to the Processing Line,” WATT Poultry USA, September 2002, pp. 28-42
8. Yin X. and K-M. Lee, “Modeling and Analysis of Grasping Dynamics for High Speed Transfer of Live Birds,” Proceedings of the 2^nd IFAC Conference on Mechatronic Systems, December 9-11, 2002 Berkeley, CA.