An official website of the United States government.
To develop an Automated Fecal Detection and Selective Processing System for real-time cleaning of contaminated poultry carcasses from poultry processing lines; to develop camera and lighting enclosures and carcass presentation system; to automate the Fecal Detection System (FDS) with a commercially acceptable level of accuracy; to develop automation that selectively processes these suspect carcasses; and to integrate the FDS with the selective processing system into an automated system.
The Fecal Detection System (FDS) will first be enclosed to withstand poultry processing environments and then automated to operate at poultry line speeds and at a ommercially acceptable level of accuracy. ARS will develop imaging algorithms and control software capable of operating on a Windows' based industrial computer. Stork will develop technology to selectively process the carcasses identified by the FDS. Jointly, the detection system will be interfaced with the selective processing system to carcasses which are contaminated. The combined system will first be prototyped and tested in ARS's pilot-scale processing facility.
<p>
In the second year, modifications from the pilot-scale study will be incorporated into a second-generation prototype as appropriate and mutually agreed to, which will then be evaluated in commercial processing facilities. Both parties will also provide information so that the system can be incorporated into Stork's existing bird monitoring system.