MAF Roda Agrobotic has been developing high end
system solutions for years; at the recent Fruit
Logistica in Berlin, it demonstrated its latest
solutions, which consolidate the product ranges
and technical offering for fruit and vegetable
producers. MAF Roda Agrobotic started out with
fruit growing in 1905, MAF France was established
in 1962 for the development of sizer machines, and now the company has subsidiaries on all continents, and is working in over 60 countries providing turnkey solutions for over 40 types of fruit and vegetables.
IDD4 - Internal Defect Detection, key equipment for ensuring proper packaging
Most varieties of fruit in the world are affected by internal defects. These defects, such as Internal Browning, Internal Rot or Water Core, are not visible from the outside of the products, and represent a critical and annoying issue for consumers who could potentially be buying inedible goods.
Stanor apples lanes, Robot Packing – France
In order to avoid this situation, the quality central department regularly take samples. Further to analyses, lots found with a too high percentage of fruits with unacceptable defects are returned to the producers, which can cause high financial losses.
Listening to customers, MAF has developed the IDD4, electro-optical measurement unit for Internal Defect Detection. This patented system is based on the principle of analysis developed between the light emitting near-infrared LEDs for emitting and analysis of different wavelengths captured by photoelectric cells. IDD4 runs up to 256 analyses on each fruit with a minimum diameter of 50 mm.
IDD4 thus ensures that the percentage of defective products in all lots will be well below the threshold.
Kromco apples lanes – Republic of South Africa
VIOTEC 6 and VIOSCAN 6 – High end solution for external quality control of citrus fruit
VIOTEC 6 is one of the most innovative of MAF RODA's vision systems with the capacity to detect not yet visible rot in citrus. It operates external quality sorting orange and clementine with a combination of 2 types of lighting: Ultra Violet light to detect the fluorescence produced by rottenness, and IR light specific to detect soft zones related to rottenness. Integrated inside GLOBALSCAN camera box, VIOTEC 6 also allow for the detection of important damages such as: cuts, open wounds, etc.
VIOSCAN 6 allows external quality sorting of "Puff and crease", "chimera", and "clear rott" (mushroom) on citrus fruit. This vision system uses direct LED lighting, combining UV and IR., and RED LED lighting through the fruit. This external optical quality sorting system is able to work on orange, clementine and grapefruit.
The combination of these two optical systems provides an effective system to treat critical external defects on citrus fruit.
Fontestad citrus lanes – Spain
UNIWAY - Efficient and compact sizer scaled for spherical fruits
UNIWAY, MAF’s brand new sizer demonstrated during the Berlin fair, has been developed to provide a compact solution for customers with small production and limited space. The V shaped belts allow an effective pre-alignment, combined with the fruit synchronization thanks to a sizer pitch. The optical measurement system can be used on such a compact conveyor, optimized with the rotation of fruit for optical sizing. And to reduce the maintenance and provide a robust system, UNIWAY sizer has been designed in the most efficient mechanical way to come without chains.
Fruit Logistica 2016
The MAF Roda Agrobotic team had three busy days at the Fruit Logistica 2016, where they performed live demonstration of their internal and external quality sorting systems. During the show MAF were able to demonstrate how their solutions are able to meet market demands.
Five contracts of several millions Euro were signed during the exhibition with MAF customers visiting from around the world.
For more information, please visit maf-roda.com.