ABSTRACT
Tools used in the meat industry range widely, from simple knives wielded by a butcher, to autonomous systems for complex tasks such as evisceration or optimal carcass break-up. Although grammatically the term automation can be used interchangeably with the term mechanization, it is more common to use mechanization to describe simple powered equipment that has little sensing or adaptation to the task or work piece, and automation to describe more advanced, sensory-guided, adaptive machinery. A number of approaches can be embodied in automation to solve the problems of dealing with product variation in a number of ways. Some use advanced sensing, some use stored knowledge of statistically likely variations, and others modify the process to utilize machinery strengths.
