Something to Cluck About: Increasing Poultry Production
by Andrew Kerr
May 2006
Georgia Tech CEISMC Gazette

According to the New Georgia Encyclopedia, "On an average day, Georgia produces 24.6 million pounds of chicken." And while it would be unwise to count one's chickens before they hatch, it's worth noting that the state also produces 14 million eggs a day. The Encyclopedia reports that the "statewide economic impact of the industry is an estimated $13.5 billion annually." Most of the work is in North Georgia, but in fact three-quarters of the state's counties are involved in the poultry industry.

A state with this much to cluck about (sorry) also has that much to lose. So the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) has tasked itself with improving efficiency in the industry in order to ensure that Georgia remains a poultry processing paradise.

GTRI's Food Technology Processing Division is located in an industrial area just south of campus. Once through the fence and the front doors, one is immersed in a beautiful, sparkling new facility (this month marks the one-year anniversary of the building's dedication by Governor Sonny Perdue). The compound includes a lab that resembles a factory floor (surveyable from an observation window above--it gave this reporter an enormous sense of power to regard the work of employees from this lofty vantage point).

This "factory floor" contains, among other projects, a scaled down conveyor belt from which fake poultry (either full-sized models or paper cutouts) can be suspended.

I spoke with GTRI Research Engineer Simeon Harbert, about how GTRI is bringing "augmented reality" to chicken quality control.

"Currently, FDA inspectors visually inspect all the chickens," says Harbert. "When a defect is found, the assembly line must be stopped completely so that the trimmers can step in and fix the problem." As a baseball catcher signals a pitcher, the inspectors signal the trimmers via gestures in order to let them know what needs to be done.

GTRI has looked into augmented reality as a potential way to speed up this process. As for a distinction between "augmented" and "virtual" reality: "Virtual reality," Harbert explains, "is where one is completely immersed in the virtual environment. Augmented reality is where we add virtual elements to enhance the real environment."

GTRI has explored two primary techniques for speeding up the quality control process in an augmented reality situation. The first is through a "head mount display," via a special lens mounted to a typical crash helmet wherein information about "defective" chickens is displayed directly into the eye of the inspector (illustrated in the photo above). "Basically, we've found that, at least in the short term, this is not as feasible," Harbert reports. "There's not enough field of view in the more affordable versions, and the equipment is not 'wash down safe'." ("Wash down safe" refers to the need for constant cleaning of the factory floor [a necessity when dealing with food that is going out for public consumption]. Hosing down the special goggles needed for this type of augmented reality would likely destroy that equipment).

The other option is to use an LCD projector to beam information onto the "defective" chickens themselves. Different numbers or symbols assigned to different tasks or types of problems could be projected onto the chickens as they move on by along the assembly line. Because these projectors are more easily made wash-down safe, and they are more affordable than augmented reality eye-ware, this seems to be, at least in the immediate future, where things are most likely to go.

So, the Chick-fil-A cows will be delighted to learn that thanks to GTRI's research into increasing poultry production, it will indeed become increasingly possible for Georgians, and people everywhere, to "Eat Mor Chikin." They will be unhappy to learn, on the other hand, that GTRI is also helping out the fast food burger industry as well.