Pukyong National University

Developing an automated system for the production of seaweed, oysters, and fish cakes using AI and robots

- The research consortium of PKNU, selected as a partner for the 12.1 billion won technology development project of the MOF

The development of a smart automated production system that applies artificial intelligence (AI) and robots to the field of seafood processing, which is traditionally a labor-intensive industry, will be actively promoted.

A research consortium (Chief Prof. Suh Jin-Ho, Mechanical System Engineering) centered on Pukyong National University in Busan has been selected for a smart technology development project for the distribution of fresh marine products in 2021 by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF).

The research consortium will be selected for the 'Development Project of Smart Processing Technology for Marine products' and will receive 12.1 billion won in support for five years until 2025 to begin R&D.

This consortium is a large-scale research group of researchers, suppliers, and consumer companies. Universities such as Pukyong National University and Chonbuk National University, as well as the National Fisheries Research & Development Institute, Korea Institute of Robotics & Technology Convergence (KIRO), Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology (KIOST), HyunJeon Co., Ltd, KyungHan Co., Ltd, OPENIN, and BK Instruments Inc., participate as joint research institutes. Particularly, they are planning to develop a strategic commercialization system by directly participating in the project by demanding companies according to each development item and jointly conducting empirical field experiments on the development results.

The goal of this research project is to develop an automation system for production core processes such as pretreatment, selection, processing, and packaging for marine products; an intelligent information-based data management and smart inspection system; and an autonomous recognition smart process control system, especially for seaweed, oysters, and fish cakes.

Previously, the pre-processing and manufacturing stages of seafood depended on the skill level of the workers, but through this research, it is possible to develop a system that determines the movement and mixing ratio of raw materials and apply an automated system by using atypical raw material data, a knowhow database, and quality data screening.

At the same time, in the inspection stage, AI technology is used to develop quality inspection algorithms, quality inspection sensor technology is utilized for high-speed processes, and optimal data management and quality inspection platform technology is used for each product. Accordingly, it is expected that a system will be developed that can inspect not only foreign substances in seafood but also radioactive contamination in real-time, which is a recent growing concern.

In addition, in the packaging and sorting stage, a smart process system based on packaging automation process technology for each item, such as laver, oysters, and fish cake, and the optimal movement trajectory algorithm for trays by weight, classification, and packaging automation technology will be applied using robots and IoT technology.

Professor Suh Jin-Ho (Dept. of Mechanical System Engineering) of Pukyong National University, who is in charge of the research, said, "Although the fishery industry is emerging as a key alternative that will take responsibility for the future food of the country and region, it is urgent to secure sustainability due to a decrease and aging in the population of fishing workers. With this research project, I will do my best so that the fishery industry can leap forward as a future high-tech business through technology commercialization and commercialization as well as core technology development." <Pukyong Today>