When I was growing up, I was an avid reader of science fiction literature. One of my favorite authors was Isaac Asimov. More than any other writer, he shaped what most people think about robots.
Asimov is credited with the invention of the 3 Laws of Robotics: 1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. 2. A robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. 3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

First published in 1942, the laws have been the basis of robot behavior in books and movies to this day. Robots have been central characters in sci-fi books and movies for decades; but, as computer and robot technology has advanced, science fiction has become science reality.

Robots were a main attraction at this year’s Indiana State Fair, as the Japan exhibit featured several extremely interactive and intuitive robots which interacted with the public. Robots are becoming more common in agriculture and food production and may represent a solution to some serious problems.

The egg industry has been in the news with several large egg recalls due to possible salmonella contamination. In response, some egg operations are turning to robots to improve efficiency and increase food safety safeguards. Smart Motion Robotics is a company that has pioneered work with robots in the egg industry.
Their Smart Stacker system is already in use in several Midwestern operations. These robots can place the eggs in the cartons, stack and palletize the cartons with more efficiency and less damage than human workers.

Dr. Simon Shane, an expert on robotics and biosecurity, said the robotic systems can provide a high degree of traceability so that eggs can be traced back to their origin quickly and accurately. This is important for an industry under an increasing amount of scrutiny.
David Voell, with Smart Motion, said more and more food production and processing industries are using robots to handle food products. The sophistication of these systems has increased to allow them to perform delicate tasks and make observations and decisions including decision on the safety of the food being processed. These machines can accomplish this with more speed and accuracy than human workers or inspectors. Voell said robots can work in environments that would be difficult for humans, for example packing ice cream in a sub zero freezer.

Robots can also be used to perform tasks that it is hard to get people to do. For example, one Canadian meat packer is using robots to process hog carcasses. Not only can the robots process the carcass, they can inspect the meat for any defects or possible contamination with more consistency than people.

These robots are also not likely to make undercover videos of packing plant operations to sell to animal rights activists. Robots are being used in some farming operations, including several dairy farms where the cows are milked by robots.

There is an inherent fear of robots by people. In fact, that is the central plot of many science fiction stories. Yet robotic technology represents advances that can make our food safer. It is unlikely that robots are going to take over our food production system, but this new frontier of technology is another tool to improve the efficiency, productivity, and safety of our food supply.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Gary Truitt may write to him in care of this publication.