KR-20260062902-A - Smart Manufacturing System for Rice Sausage-Shaped Processed Food Comprising Artificial Intelligence Based Multi-Channel Dynamic Extrusion Control and Autonomous Property Optimization Logic

Abstract

The present invention relates to a manufacturing system for 'tteok,' one of Korea's traditional foods, which combines artificial intelligence (AI)-based intelligent sensing technology and robot control technology. More specifically, it relates to a smart factory implementation technology that automates the entire process, from the autonomous unloading of irregular raw materials to the manufacturing of processed food in the form of rice sausages through multi-stage dynamic process control and autonomous loading. In particular, the primary objective is to achieve an innovation in product supply methods that allow for distribution at room temperature for up to one year and immediate consumption at room temperature by producing the product in the form of an innovative packaging method called a "100% rice sausage" to solve the "starch staling phenomenon" of hardening, which was the biggest obstacle to long-term overseas distribution of various traditional Korean rice cakes. To achieve the above objective, the present invention provides a technical means to 'fix the alpha (α) state' of starch for a long period by utilizing AI vision and spectroscopic analysis technologies to monitor the moisture content, immersion state, degree of gelatinization during steaming, and extrusion torque of the raw material in real time, and dynamically controlling sterilization and cooling parameters in 1/100th of a second intervals based on the calculated data, in order to ensure stability during distribution at room temperature by suppressing the retrogradation phenomenon, which is an inherent characteristic of starchy foods. In addition, the present invention aims to provide an innovative manufacturing platform that can supply high-quality rice products globally at room temperature without a cold chain, by organically combining a robot control unit that autonomously unloads irregular raw material bags weighing 40kg to 60kg using a deep learning-based object recognition algorithm, a real-time active foreign object sorting unit using spectroscopic image sensing, and a logistics linkage unit that optimizes the loading space of the final product and automatically loads it onto a vehicle, thereby transforming traditional manufacturing methods that relied on human subjective experience into a data-centric standardized production system.

Inventors

• 김식
• 성신옥

Assignees

• 김식
• 성신옥

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20260216

Claims (9)

1. "A smart manufacturing system for processed food in the form of rice sausages including AI-based multi-channel dynamic extrusion control and autonomous physical property optimization logic," A. A raw material unloading step in which an irregular rice bag is identified from a truck within a set parking area, and a robot arm autonomously unloads the rice bag through the robot control unit; B. A raw material input step of opening the unloaded rice bags and placing them into a washing container; C. An impurity sorting step that identifies the type of input rice through an AI-based ultra-high-speed detection algorithm and sorts out and discharges foreign substances; D. A washing and soaking control step that determines the washing and soaking time according to the type of rice identified above, and controls the process through a processor according to the determined time; E. A precision drying step in which the moisture content of the rice is measured after soaking is completed to calculate the drying time, and a drying process is performed accordingly; F. A steaming and cooling control step that uses an AI model to set the steaming and cooling times and autonomously controls the steaming and cooling processes according to the set values; G. An extrusion and molding step in which the cooled raw material is extruded to form a rice sausage shape and automatically cut according to preset specifications; H. A sterilization and packaging step of sterilizing and sealing the above-mentioned molded rice sausage; I. A quality inspection and discharge step that verifies the final quality of packaged products through an AI vision inspection module and discharges defective products; and J. An automatic loading and loading step of loading products that have passed the above quality inspection into boxes and automatically loading them according to the dimensions of the truck's loading space using a robotic arm linked with AI vision technology; including K. A smart rice sausage manufacturing system based on AI and robot control , characterized in that each of the above steps is organically linked by an AI optimization algorithm of a central control server and performed with minimal human intervention.
2. As an autonomous raw material unloading and preprocessing system comprising an AI (Artificial Intelligence)-based vision sensor and multiple robot arms, a) A vehicle recognition step that identifies the specifications of an incoming vehicle using an AI vision module and generates location information of the cargo compartment; b) A complex robotic unloading step in which, based on the above location information, multiple robotic arms are synchronized to scan the external shape of irregular rice bags loaded in a truck, calculate an optimal gripping point, and move the rice bags to a designated unloading area; c) A raw material input alignment step in which a transfer robot arm grasps the unloaded rice bags and aligns them at the upper critical point of the pretreatment tank; d) an autonomous opening and insertion step of controlling a cutting module equipped on the above-mentioned transfer robot arm to cut the central part of the bag to insert raw materials and discharge the empty bag to a disposal area; and e) A real-time impurity screening step that detects foreign substances in real time using a hyperspectral imaging sensor on the falling path of raw materials fed into the tank, and actively controls an air jet device according to the AI reading result to locally discharge only the foreign substances; An AI-based robot-controlled autonomous raw material unloading and preprocessing system characterized by including
3. As an AI-based smart manufacturing unit that performs the washing and soaking processes of raw rice, a) A washing and soaking tank in the form of a stainless steel cylinder with micropores formed on its surface having a size of 1/2 or less of the rice particle diameter and an upper and lower opening and closing part, and including a sensor part for measuring the weight and initial moisture content of rice introduced inside; b) A rotary washing drive unit that performs a washing process by supplying washing water while rotating the washing and immersion tank at a preset angle of 45 degrees; c) an AI control unit that monitors the turbidity of the washing water discharged during washing in real time to determine the washing end time, and calculates the amount of water required for immersion and the immersion time based on the measured weight and moisture content data; and d) a pH control unit that precisely controls the amount of natural acidulant added to maintain a pH range of 4.5 to 5.5 to inhibit microbial growth of the raw material during the immersion process; comprising, e) A smart immersion and washing system by AI control, characterized in that the washing and immersion tanks are arranged in parallel in multiple numbers to perform a continuous process.
4. As a smart drying and grinding unit that analyzes the state of immersed raw materials through AI (Artificial Intelligence)-based data computation and autonomously controls subsequent processes, a) A state detection sensor unit installed in an immersion tank to measure the turbidity and temperature of the immersion water in real time; b) An AI analysis module that compares time-series data obtained from the above-mentioned state detection sensor unit with basic data by variety of the raw rice to calculate the soaking state of the raw material as a quantified value; c) A process transition control unit that determines and executes the timing of transferring raw materials from the immersion tank to the drying unit when the soaking state value calculated by the AI analysis module reaches a preset threshold; d) a drying optimization engine that detects the moisture content of the raw material being dried in the drying unit in real time and autonomously sets the remaining drying time and the timing of input to the grinding unit to reach a target moisture content according to the calculated moisture content result; and e) A continuous grinding unit that continuously grinds raw materials having an optimal moisture content according to a control signal of the above-mentioned drying optimization engine to produce powder for rice sausage; characterized by comprising an AI-controlled drying and continuous grinding system for soaked rice.
5. As a rice sausage molding system through AI (Artificial Intelligence)-based raw material blending and dynamic steaming control, a) an automatic raw material mixing unit comprising a plurality of hoppers for receiving rice flour and a liquid supply unit for receiving additive raw materials, wherein an AI control unit determines the input weight for each raw material in real time and performs precise weighing based on set recipe data and the state value of the rice flour; b) An AI-based intelligent mixing unit that mixes the raw materials input from the above-mentioned automatic raw material mixing unit, operates according to the optimal hopper rotation speed and stirring time calculated by an AI model, and measures the viscosity of the rice dough mixture in real time through a sensor; c) an autonomous control steaming unit that gelatinizes the dough according to the optimal steaming temperature, heating time, and cylinder rotation speed derived by an AI algorithm, using the viscosity and weight of the rice dough measured by the intelligent mixing unit as input variables; and d) a high-pressure extrusion molding unit that extrudes the steamed dough at a set pressure to form a rice sausage shape and precisely cuts it into preset standard units; comprising e) A dough and multi-channel molding system by AI control, characterized in that the AI control unit dynamically controls the heating parameters of the autonomous steaming unit and the extrusion pressure of the high-pressure extrusion molding unit in conjunction with the viscosity measurement results of the rice dough.
6. As a system for rice sausage quality optimization and process autonomous control through AI (Artificial Intelligence)-based physical and chemical data analysis, a) drive unit inside the extruder Change in torque Real-time measurement to convert the viscoelasticity and resistance of steamed dough into data Load analysis module; b) By analyzing the absorption rate by wavelength of light through an ultra-high-speed image sensor and a spectroscopy unit, depending on the moisture binding state of starch particles in the dough Spectroscopic measurement module for quantitatively calculating the degree of gelatinization; c) Using raw material variety information, moisture content, and heating temperature data as input values, and the torque value of the load analysis module and the gelatinization value of the spectroscopic measurement module as parameters to achieve an optimal texture Predict the cutting timing doing AI Texture Control Engine; and d) Autonomously cutting the extruded product according to the predicted result calculated by the above AI texture control engine, and subsequently dynamically adjusting the sterilization temperature for microbial control of the product and the cooling time for room temperature packaging. Autonomous Fair Executive Department; cast Characterized by including, Sterilization and cooling time controlled by AI control System.
7. As a smart packaging unit including AI (Artificial Intelligence)-based heat treatment control and material property fixation functions, a) a high-pressure sterilization module that kills heat-resistant spore-forming bacteria (Bacillus cereus) by pressurizing cut and sealed rice sausage products for 15 to 30 minutes at a temperature of 121°C or higher and a set atmospheric pressure; b) A rapid cooling unit that rapidly cools the product temperature to 40℃ or lower immediately after the above-mentioned pressurized sterilization through a water spray or immersion method; c) A physical property maintenance control unit that, during the rapid cooling described above, suppresses starch retrogradation by calculating and adjusting the cooling speed and residual air pressure inside the packaging in real time based on previously analyzed degree of gelatinization data of the rice by an AI control unit; and d) an alpha (α) state fixing module that inspects the packaging condition through an AI vision sensor and simultaneously delays the crystallization of starch particles according to a control signal of the physical property maintenance control unit to maintain a soft texture; comprising e) A vision inspection and packaging system by AI control, characterized in that the AI control unit dynamically corrects the cooling water supply amount of the rapid cooling unit and the pressure inside the packaging through precise time control in units of 1/100th of a second.
8. In claim 6 or 7 above, as a smart packaging unit that inspects the sealing and quality of a final product using an AI (Artificial Intelligence)-based vision system, a) A continuous vacuum packaging module that seals both ends of a molded rice sausage by heat fusion or clipping; b) An AI spectroscopic inspection module that analyzes the vacuum pressure inside the packaging material and the presence of foreign substances at the sealing interface using wavelength data through ultra-high-speed image sensors and spectroscopic analysis technology; and c) a quality judgment control unit that receives the ratio of gelatinization and internal residual air pressure of starch particles in real time from the AI spectroscopic inspection module and determines whether there is a defect by comparing them with preset reference values; comprising d) An AI-controlled automatic packaging and inspection unit characterized by immediately ejecting defective products from the process line and transferring only normal products to a subsequent box loading process according to the judgment result of the quality judgment control unit above.
9. Following Claim 8 above, an automation system that performs final packaging and loading of a product using AI (Artificial Intelligence)-based vision technology and a multi-axis robotic arm, a) An intelligent box packaging unit that identifies the specifications and shape of an incoming box through an AI vision sensor and loads inspected rice sausage products into the box in a preset quantity and optimal arrangement structure; b) an autonomous transfer module for transferring the final product with the above-mentioned box packaging into the cargo compartment of a logistics truck; and c) an AI autonomous loading and loading module that scans the loading space specifications of the logistics truck and the distribution status of previously loaded goods in real time using AI vision, and loads boxes by controlling the end-effector of a robotic arm to maximize loading efficiency; comprising d) An AI-based next-generation automated rice sausage manufacturing system characterized in that the above-described AI autonomous loading and unloading module corrects the operating range of the robot arm in real time based on the vehicle's tonnage and cargo box shape data.

Description

Smart Manufacturing System for Rice Sausage-Shaped Processed Food Comprising Artificial Intelligence Based Multi-Channel Dynamic Extrusion Control and Autonomous Property Optimization Logic The present invention relates to a smart food manufacturing system based on artificial intelligence (AI) and robot control, and more specifically, to an unmanned smart manufacturing platform that produces sausage-shaped processed rice food with ensured ambient temperature distribution stability through an autonomous unloading algorithm for irregular raw materials and dynamic process control via real-time monitoring of starch gelatinization degree. In addition, the present invention belongs to the field of AI-integrated smart factory technology that realizes production efficiency maximization and quality uniformity by utilizing deep learning-based vision recognition technology to actively select foreign substances in raw materials and autonomously optimizing immersion, steaming, and extrusion parameters according to the moisture content and environmental variables of the raw materials. This invention was conceived against the backdrop of the combination of structural changes in the domestic agricultural economy and the technical requirements of the food processing industry. Recently, the domestic rice industry has been facing a entrenched supply-demand imbalance where the decline in consumption is steeper than the decline in production. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs’ finalized statistics for 2024 and a survey on the actual situation for 2025, annual per capita rice consumption has plummeted to 55.2 kg, which is about 50% of the level in the 1990s. Consequently, national inventory management costs to handle the excess production volume are increasing exponentially every year. As a solution to this supply-demand imbalance, the government is pursuing a 'Rice Industry Structural Reform' policy from 2025 to 2029, centered on fostering the flour rice industry and expanding global exports of K-Food. In particular, along with the revitalization of flour rice-based processed foods that can replace wheat flour, a national strategic task is emerging to expand the export target for processed rice products to 180,000 tons per year. However, conventional rice processing technology, especially traditional rice cake manufacturing technology, faces the following limitations. First, due to the starch retrogradation phenomenon during the distribution process, a cold chain is essential, and this is a major factor contributing to rising overseas logistics costs and weakened export competitiveness. Second, excessive reliance on manpower in the unloading and mixing processes of large-volume raw materials (40kg to 60kg) leads to increased production costs and a risk of industrial accidents. Therefore, to promote rice consumption and expand into the global market, there is an urgent need to develop innovative food formulations capable of ambient temperature distribution (such as sausages made from 100% rice) and to establish a smart manufacturing platform capable of mass-producing standardized quality by automating the entire process—from raw material unloading to quality inspection and loading—based on AI. With the rapid increase in awareness of K-Food driven by the spread of global media content, the Southeast Asian market, including Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia, has emerged as a strategic hub, accounting for approximately 35% to 40% of domestic rice cake exports. In addition, the North American market (United States and Canada) is proving its value as a new market, recording a steep annual growth rate of over 20% and exceeding 25% of domestic rice processed food consumption. According to the results of the rice production survey on November 15, 2024, announced by Statistics Korea in 2024, the total annual rice production (approx. 3.585 million tons) exceeds the total consumption (approx. 3.529 million tons), resulting in tens of thousands of tons of surplus inventory every year. As a fundamental solution to this supply-demand imbalance, it is urgent to advance processed foods and promote exports targeting the global market of approximately 8 billion people. However, conventional rice cake manufacturing technology has a physical limitation in that the texture hardens within a short period immediately after production due to the retrogradation phenomenon of starch, which is an inherent characteristic of starchy foods. Consequently, rapid freezing or high-cost refrigerated sealed packaging is required for long-distance overseas logistics, which acts as a fatal technical barrier resulting in reduced price competitiveness due to rising logistics costs and blocking market expansion into regions lacking a cold chain. Ultimately, for the global expansion of processed rice products, there is an urgent need for the integrated implementation of physical property control technology capable of fixing the alpha (α) sta