Gripper, vision-guided robot, system for automatically hanging poultry, method for automatically hanging poultry, and computer program

Abstract

The invention relates to a gripper, a vision-guided robot, a system for automatically hanging poultry, a method for automatically hanging poultry and a computer program. The system for automatically hanging poultry by the legs comprises a vision-guided robot provided with a gripper arranged to engage the legs of the poultry, said gripper having two main jaw arms of a first group and two secondary jaw arms of a second group, the two main jaw arms being arranged to grip a first leg of the poultry carcass, the two secondary jaw arms being arranged to grip a second leg of the poultry carcass, wherein at least one of the two main jaw arms is mounted to move back and forth relative to the other main jaw arm to grip the first leg of the poultry, and at least one of the two secondary jaw arms is mounted to move relative to the other secondary jaw arm to grip the second leg.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a gripper, a vision-guided robot, and a system, method, and computer program for automatically suspending poultry using the gripper. Background Technology

[0002] CN117322457 is believed to disclose features of the preamble of the first main aspect of the present invention, which relates to an evisceration device for broiler processing. The evisceration device includes a fixed base plate, a protective sleeve fixedly connected to the top of the fixed base plate, a limiting sleeve fixedly connected to the center of the top of the fixed base plate, an integral rotating mechanism located between the fixed base plate and the limiting sleeve, and a fixed top frame fixedly connected to the top of the integral rotating mechanism. A plurality of first cylinders are fixedly connected to the top of the fixed top frame, an adjusting rotating mechanism is fixedly connected to the output end of the first cylinders, and a broiler clamping mechanism is fixedly connected to the bottom of the adjusting rotating mechanism. A evisceration mechanism and an evisceration cleaning mechanism are fixedly connected to a side and a rear end of the top of the fixed base plate, respectively.

[0003] EP4265113A1 discloses a system and method for automatically suspending poultry on a carrier of a carrier conveyor by means of its legs. The system includes a supply line for the poultry to be suspended, wherein the system includes: an imaging device connected to a decision tool for processing images of poultry from the supply line; and a vision-guided robot for picking up the poultry from the supply line and suspending it on the carrier of the carrier conveyor, wherein the decision tool is arranged to detect poultry with its chest in contact with the supply line and to control the vision-guided robot to pick up the poultry from the supply line by engaging it at its legs, and subsequently suspend the poultry on the carrier of the carrier conveyor by means of its legs.

[0004] The drawback of existing technologies is their reliance on birds being positioned so that their breasts are in contact with the supply line. This reliance introduces additional complexity, particularly when the birds are not initially aligned with the required breast-down orientation, requiring reorientation steps that reduce system and operational efficiency. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The object of this invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide a system, method, and auxiliary device capable of picking up poultry independently of their orientation on the feeder line, while improving reliability and making the system and its operation simpler and less complex. Another object of this invention is to provide a gripper capable of handling a wider range of poultry sizes to be suspended in a carrier on a conveyor line.

[0006] According to the present invention, a gripper consistent with various aspects of the present invention, a vision-guided robot having such a gripper, and a system, method, and computer program for automatically suspending poultry are proposed.

[0007] According to a first aspect of the invention, a gripper is provided, comprising a first set of two main gripper arms and a second set of two secondary gripper arms. The two main gripper arms are arranged to grip a first leg of a poultry carcass, and the two secondary gripper arms are arranged to grip a second leg of the poultry carcass. At least one of the main gripper arms is mounted to be movable relative to the other main gripper arm to grip the first leg, and at least one of the secondary gripper arms is mounted to be movable relative to the other secondary gripper arm to grip the second leg. The two main gripper arms are also slidable relative to each other, and the two secondary gripper arms are also slidable relative to each other. In this manner, the gripper can be arranged to operate between an open position and a closed position, in which the main gripper arms are moved away from each other and the secondary gripper arms are moved away from each other, and in the closed position, the two main gripper arms have moved toward each other and the two secondary gripper arms have moved toward each other to grip the leg.

[0008] Gripper arms belonging to the same set can cover a larger area for gripping the legs of poultry, thus enabling the gripper to hold the legs of poultry that are at very different distances from each other or even in different orientations. In this context, the parameter "leg spacing" is used, which is defined as the distance between the legs of a poultry carcass when suspended from the hooks used for suspending and transporting the poultry.

[0009] Preferably, the two main gripper arms of the first group and / or the two auxiliary gripper arms of the second group include straight portions, and at least one gripper arm of the relevant group gripper arm is capable of sliding back and forth along the straight portion relative to the other gripper arm of the relevant group gripper arm.

[0010] A suitable implementation is characterized in that the two main gripper arms of the first group include a first straight portion, one of the main gripper arms being capable of sliding back and forth along the first straight portion relative to the other main gripper arm, and / or the two secondary gripper arms of the second group include a second straight portion, one of the secondary gripper arms being capable of sliding back and forth along the second straight portion relative to the other secondary gripper arm. This allows the bird's leg to be arranged to rest against the straight portions of each set of gripper arms when the gripper engages the leg, so that the closing movement of the gripper arms captures and clamps the leg. The advantage is that although the legs of the bird carcass may be at different distances relative to each other, the legs will be clamped simultaneously by the sliding movement of the gripper arms of both sets of gripper arms regardless.

[0011] Preferably, the straight portions of the relevant group gripper arms are integrated with one of the main gripper arms and / or one of the secondary gripper arms of the relevant group gripper arms. This simplifies the construction and reduces costs.

[0012] In one embodiment, the two main gripper arms and / or the two auxiliary gripper arms are slidably mounted so that the distance between the first set of gripper arms and the second set of gripper arms can be adjusted, which ensures reliable operation even in the case of extended or repeated use.

[0013] In one embodiment, the distance between the two main gripping arms of the first group and the two secondary gripping arms of the second group is adjustable, particularly when the bird's leg is to be gripped or is being gripped, in order to match the aforementioned leg spacing. Accordingly, preferably, the gripper is arranged to set the distance between the first group of gripping arms and the second group of gripping arms after the bird's leg has been gripped by the gripping arms in their closed position.

[0014] In this regard, it is preferable to image the bird with a suitable imaging tool, particularly a camera, and to use the image obtained from such imaging to locate the bird's first and second legs, wherein, based on the position of the bird's first and second legs and before gripping the bird's legs, the distance between the main gripper and the secondary gripper is adjusted to correspond to the distance between the bird's legs.

[0015] The invention is also embodied in a vision-guided robot for picking up poultry from a supply line and placing the poultry in a poultry carrier of a carrier conveyor, wherein the vision-guided robot is provided with at least one gripper according to the invention.

[0016] According to another aspect of the invention, a system is proposed for automatically suspending poultry on a carrier of a carrier conveyor via legs, preferably via tarsal joints. The system includes a supply line for the poultry to be suspended. The system includes an imaging device connected to a decision tool, which processes images of the poultry on the supply line received from the imaging device. The decision tool is arranged to detect the poultry and control a vision-guided robot to pick up the poultry from the supply line by engaging it at a leg, for example, at the lower leg, and subsequently suspend the poultry on the carrier of the carrier conveyor via its legs. To support smooth operation, the vision-guided robot is provided with at least one gripper according to the invention.

[0017] Preferably, the decision-making tool is configured to control the vision-guided robot to perform the following processing steps based on images received from the imaging device:

[0018] a. When the decision-making tool identifies a bird's leg in an image received from an imaging device, the decision-making tool is arranged to engage the leg with the vision-guided robot, and to pick up the bird by the leg and suspend the bird on a carrier of a carrier conveyor by the leg; and

[0019] b. If the decision tool fails to identify the bird's legs in the image received from the imaging device, the decision tool is arranged to search for and identify the bird's head in the image from the imaging device, and after identifying the bird's head, the decision tool is arranged to engage the bird's head at least by the main first set of gripper arms, and drag the bird along the supply line a predetermined length by the head, and then repeat step a to identify the bird's legs, and pick up the bird by engaging the bird's legs and suspend the bird on the carrier of the carrier conveyor by the legs.

[0020] According to the present invention, it is therefore required that the following processing steps be systematically implemented:

[0021] - Obtain images of poultry from the supply line;

[0022] - Process the images to detect and select bird legs;

[0023] - A vision-guided robot is controlled to pick up poultry from a supply line by engaging the poultry at its legs; and...

[0024] - The vision-guided robot uses its legs to suspend poultry on the carrier of the conveyor.

[0025] The invention is also embodied in a method for automatically suspending poultry on a carrier of a carrier conveyor by means of legs, the method comprising supplying poultry on a supply line, imaging and processing the images of the poultry from the supply line to detect the poultry and controlling a vision-guided robot, the vision-guided robot comprising a gripper according to the invention for picking up poultry from the supply line by engaging the poultry at its legs, and subsequently suspending the poultry on a carrier of the carrier conveyor by means of legs.

[0026] Preferably, the image of the bird obtained by imaging the bird is used to locate the first and second legs of the bird, wherein, based on the position of the first and second legs of the bird and before gripping the legs of the bird, the distance between the main gripper arm and the secondary gripper arm of the gripper is adjusted to correspond to the distance between the legs of the bird.

[0027] The process of joining the legs of a bird is accomplished by the following steps: placing the gripper such that a first leg is positioned between the main grippers of the gripper and a second leg is positioned between the secondary grippers of the gripper, and then moving at least one of the main grippers toward the other main gripper to grip the first leg, and by moving at least one of the secondary grippers toward the other secondary gripper to grip the second leg.

[0028] Preferably, the gripper is first positioned in a first position to grip the first leg via the main gripper arm, and then the gripper is moved to a second position to grip the second leg via the secondary gripper arm.

[0029] The step of engaging the bird's leg with the gripper is preferably performed through the following sub-steps:

[0030] a. In cases where the image shows the legs of a bird, the vision-guided robot is arranged to engage the legs, and picks up the bird using the legs and suspends the bird on the carrier of the carrier conveyor using the legs; and

[0031] b. In the case where the bird's legs are not shown in the image, the image is processed to search for and identify the bird's head in the image, and arranged such that after the bird's head is identified, the vision-guided robot is controlled to grasp the bird by its head and drag the bird along the supply line for a predetermined length, and then step a is repeated to identify the bird's legs in the image, wherein the vision-guided robot then picks up the bird by its legs and suspends the bird on the carrier of the carrier conveyor by its legs.

[0032] Preferably, at least the steps of processing images of poultry and / or controlling the vision-guided robot are implemented using a computer loaded with a computer program. Correspondingly, the invention is also embodied in the computer program, which, when loaded into the computer, is configured to cause the computer to induce the system of the invention to perform the method according to the invention. Therefore, a proprietary right to a computer-readable medium containing the computer program of the invention is also claimed.

[0033] The advantage of this invention is that the decision-making tool is arranged to control the vision-guided robot to engage and pick up poultry from the supply line in any arbitrary orientation, which is particularly advantageous because poultry can be supplied by the supply line in a disorganized manner. Attached Figure Description

[0034] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of this specification, illustrate one or more embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. The drawings are for illustrative purposes only and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention.

[0035] In the attached diagram:

[0036] - Figure 1a The gripper of the present invention is described, the gripper having a first group including two main gripper arms and a second group including two auxiliary gripper arms;

[0037] - Figure 1b The gripper is depicted in the open position;

[0038] - Figure 1c The gripper in the closed position is depicted;

[0039] - Figure 2 A vision-guided robot equipped with at least one gripper according to the invention is described;

[0040] - Figure 3 The diagram shows a supply station and supply line that form part of the system according to the invention;

[0041] - Figure 4a and Figure 4b The system of the present invention is shown, which includes a feed line, a vision-guided robot, and a carrier conveyor, wherein poultry are fed on the feed line;

[0042] - Figure 5a , Figure 5b and Figure 5c The illustration shows poultry in contact with the supply line in three orientations, wherein, Figure 5a It depicts birds touching the supply line with their breasts facing down. Figure 5b It depicts the birds touching the supply line with their backs facing down, and Figure 5c It depicts birds touching the supply line with their breasts down, their heads visible, and either no feet or only one foot visible.

[0043] Whenever the same reference numerals are used in the accompanying drawings, these reference numerals refer to the same parts. Detailed Implementation

[0044] Figures 1a to 1c A gripper 3 according to the invention is depicted, which is designed for engaging the legs of birds.

[0045] Figure 1aThe gripper 3 is shown in the open position, and the gripper 3 includes several components, notably: two main gripping arms 1.1 and 1.2 of a first group 1, arranged to grip the first leg of a poultry carcass (not shown, but clearly understood by those skilled in the art); and two secondary gripping arms 2.1 and 2.2 of a second group 2, arranged to grip the second leg of a poultry carcass. At least one of the two main gripping arms 1.1 or 1.2 is mounted to be movable relative to the other main gripping arm 1.2 or 1.1 to grip the first leg of the poultry. Furthermore, at least one of the two secondary gripping arms 2.1 or 2.2 is mounted to be movable relative to the other secondary gripping arm 2.2 or 2.1 to grip the second leg of the poultry (not shown).

[0046] Corresponding Figure 1a , Figure 1b and Figure 1c A preferred embodiment is shown, wherein the two main gripper arms 1.1, 1.2 of the first group 1 include a first straight portion 1.3, and one gripper arm 1.1 of the main gripper arms is capable of sliding back and forth relative to the other main gripper arm 1.2 along the first straight portion 1.3. Similarly, the two secondary gripper arms 2.1, 2.2 of the second group 2 include a second straight portion 2.3, and one gripper arm 2.2 of the secondary gripper arms is capable of sliding back and forth relative to the other secondary gripper arm 2.1 along the second straight portion 2.3. This arrangement ensures that when the gripper 3 engages the leg, the bird's leg is positioned to rest against the straight portions 1.3 and 2.3 of the gripper arms of each group 1, 2, so that the closing movement of the gripper arms captures and clamps the leg. The advantage is that although the legs of the bird carcass may be at different distances relative to each other, the legs will be clamped simultaneously by the sliding movement of the gripper arms of both groups of gripper arms regardless.

[0047] From Figure 1a , Figure 1b It is noted that the straight portion 1.3 of the gripper arms 1.1 and 1.2 of related group 1 is integral with the main gripper arm 1.2 of the main gripper arms 1.1 and 1.2. Similarly, the straight portion 2.3 of the gripper arms 2.1 and 2.2 of related group 2 is integral with the secondary gripper arm 2.1 of the secondary gripper arms 2.1 and 2.2.

[0048] The gripper 3 is shown in both the open and closed positions. Figure 1b and Figure 1cThe diagram illustrates the variable distance between the two main gripper arms 1.1, 1.2 and the two secondary gripper arms 2.1, 2.2 in their open and closed positions. As shown in these figures, to grip the legs of birds, the gripper is arranged to operate between an open and a closed position. In the open position, the main gripper arms 1.1, 1.2 are far apart from each other, and the secondary gripper arms 2.1, 2.2 are also far apart from each other. In the closed position, the two main gripper arms 1.1, 1.2 have moved toward each other, and the two secondary gripper arms 2.1, 2.2 have also moved toward each other.

[0049] In one embodiment of the gripper 3, the distance between the first set 1 gripper arms and the second set 2 gripper arms is adjustable, and this distance is determined by adjusting the position of all grippers as follows: Figure 1c The distance between gripper arms 1.1 and 2.1 is set when the bird is in the closed position as shown. In this way, the distance between the legs can be selected to be a certain leg spacing when the bird is gripped, which allows the bird to be suspended on a carrier with the same specific leg spacing. This adjustment can be easily made remotely by a technician by applying a suitable actuator to the gripper arms.

[0050] In this embodiment of the gripper of the present invention, the two main gripper arms 1.1, 1.2 and the two secondary gripper arms 2.1, 2.2 are slidably mounted, but this is not necessary.

[0051] Figure 2 The image shows a vision-guided robot 4 equipped with at least one gripper 3 according to the invention.

[0052] Figure 3 and Figure 4a / Figure 4b A processing system for use in conjunction with the features of the present invention is described, the processing system comprising several components, notably including: a supply line 14 for poultry 8 and a supply station 15 for poultry. Furthermore, the processing system includes a vision-guided robot 4 and a carrier conveyor 5 for the poultry to be suspended (see [link to documentation]). Figure 4a , 4b The carrier conveyor 5 includes a series of carrier components 6, in Figure 4a , Figure 4b Only one of the series of carriers 6 is shown. Carrier 6 is capable of moving along the conveying direction of carrier 5 in a manner fully known to those skilled in the art, and therefore requires no further explanation.

[0053] Reference Figure 3 The diagram shows that supply line 14 receives poultry 8 from supply station 15, which receives poultry 8, for example, in container 7, and releases the poultry 8 from container 7 to supply line 14. Thus, supply line 14 can receive multiple poultry 8 in a disorganized manner.

[0054] The supply station 15 is equipped with a transfer section 9 to supply poultry 8 released from container 7 toward supply line 14. The transfer section 9 may be equipped with a guide channel 10 to supply poultry 8 to supply line 14 via separate routes or in a queue of moving poultry 8.

[0055] For clarity, as an example, Figure 5a , Figure 5b and Figure 5c The text describes three orientations in which birds 8 can access supply line 14, among which... Figure 5a It depicts birds touching the supply line with their breasts facing down. Figure 5b It depicts the birds touching the supply line with their backs facing down, and Figure 5c It depicts birds touching the supply line with their breasts down, their heads visible, and their feet either absent or with only one foot visible.

[0056] Figure 4a The decision-making tool 12 depicted is arranged to control the vision-guided robot 4 to perform the following processing steps based on images received from the imaging device 11. Alternatively, as... Figure 4b The image device is mounted on the vision-guided robot 4, as shown in the figure, where the camera is indicated by reference numeral 13.

[0057] Reference Figures 5a to 5c The processing steps are illustrated. Figure 5a and Figure 5b The text describes how birds, regardless of whether they are breast-down ( Figure 5a () or back down () Figure 5b In this case, the legs of the bird are visible. The decision-making tool 12 can identify the leg 8'' of the bird 8 in the images received from the imaging devices 11 and 13, and is arranged so that the vision-guided robot 4 engages the leg 8'' at the lower leg and picks up the bird 8 through the leg 8''. Subsequently, the vision-guided robot 4 can suspend the bird 8 on the carrier 6 of the carrier conveyor 5 via the tarsal joint of the leg 8''.

[0058] on the other hand, Figure 5cThe diagram depicts a situation where only one leg of the bird is visible, or where neither leg is visible—see the left portion of the figure. In this case, the decision tool 12 cannot identify the leg 8'' of the bird 8 in the images received from the imaging devices 11, 13, and for this situation, the decision tool 12 is arranged to search for and identify the head 8' of the bird 8 in the images from the imaging devices 11, 13. After the head 8' of the bird 8 is identified, the decision tool 12 is arranged to engage the head 8' of the bird 8 by means of at least a set of gripper arms 1, 2, and drag the bird 8 along the supply line 14 a predetermined length by means of the head to expose both legs of the bird, such as... Figure 5c The right side is shown. Then, the operation can be continued by repeating step a above to identify the leg 8'' of the bird 8 in the images received from the cameras 11 and 13 and pick up the bird 8 by engaging the leg 8'', and suspend the bird 8 on the carrier 6 of the carrier conveyor 5 by the leg 8''.

[0059] In the latter operation of identifying the legs 8'' of the bird 8 from the images received from cameras 11 and 13, the accuracy of picking up the bird by the legs 8'' is improved by using images of the bird 8 obtained by imaging the bird, such as by imaging the bird. In this case, the distance between the main gripper arm and the secondary gripper arm of the gripper is adjusted to correspond to the distance between the legs 8'' of the bird, based on the position of the first and second legs of the bird 8.

[0060] Although the invention has been discussed above with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, the invention is not limited to these particular embodiments, which may be varied in many ways without departing from the invention. Therefore, the exemplary embodiments discussed should not be used to interpret the appended claims strictly according to these exemplary embodiments. Rather, the embodiments are intended only to interpret the wording of the appended claims and not to limit the claims to these exemplary embodiments. Therefore, the scope of protection of the invention should be interpreted only according to the appended claims, wherein the exemplary embodiments should be used to resolve any possible ambiguities in the wording of the claims.

[0061] Modifications and alterations to the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the invention is intended to cover all such modifications and equivalents in the appended claims. The full disclosure of all references, applications, patents, and publications cited above is incorporated herein by reference. Unless specifically stated above as "essential," various components or their interrelationships are not essential for the operation of the invention. Rather, desired results can be achieved by replacing various components and / or reconfiguring the relationships between them.

[0062] Embodiments of the present invention may include general-purpose or special-purpose computers or distributed systems programmed with computer software implementing the steps described above. This computer software may be any suitable computer language, including but not limited to C++, FORTRAN, ALGOL, BASIC, Java, Python, Linux, assembly language, microcode, distributed programming languages, etc. The device may also include multiple such computers / distributed systems with various hardware implementations (e.g., connected via the Internet and / or one or more intranets). For example, data processing may be performed by appropriately programmed microprocessors, computing clouds, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), etc., combined with appropriate memory, network, and bus elements. One or more processors and / or microcontrollers may operate via instructions of computer code, and the software is preferably stored on one or more tangible, non-transitive memory storage devices.

Claims

1. A gripper (3) arranged to engage the leg of a bird, the gripper comprising two main gripping arms (1.1, 1.2) of a first group (1) and two secondary gripping arms (2.1, 2.2) of a second group (2), the main gripping arms (1.1, 1.2) being arranged to grip the first leg (8'') of a bird carcass (8), and the secondary gripping arms (2.1, 2.2) being arranged to grip the second leg (8'') of the bird carcass (8), wherein, At least one of the two main gripper arms (1.1) is mounted to be movable back and forth relative to the other main gripper arm (1.2) to grip the first leg (8'') of the bird, and / or at least one of the two secondary gripper arms (2.1) is mounted to be movable back and forth relative to the other secondary gripper arm (2.2) to grip the second leg (8''), characterized in that the two main gripper arms (1.1, 1.2) are slidable back and forth relative to each other, and the two secondary gripper arms (2.1, 2.2) are slidable back and forth relative to each other.

2. The gripper according to claim 1, characterized in that, The gripper is arranged to operate between an open position and a closed position, in which the main gripper arms (1.1, 1.2) are far apart from each other and the secondary gripper arms (2.1, 2.2) are far apart from each other, and in the closed position, the two main gripper arms (1.1, 1.2) have moved toward each other and the two secondary gripper arms (2.1, 2.2) have moved toward each other to grip the leg.

3. The gripper (3) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, At least one of the two main gripper arms (1.1, 1.2) of the first group (1) and the two secondary gripper arms (2.1, 2.2) of the second group (2) includes a portion (1.3, 2.3), at least one gripper arm of the gripper arm of the relevant group (1, 2) is capable of sliding back and forth along said portion (1.3, 2.3) relative to the other gripper arm of the gripper arm of the relevant group (1, 2).

4. The gripper (3) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The first group (1) has two main gripper arms (1.1, 1.2) including a first straight portion (1.3), one of the main gripper arms (1.1) being able to slide back and forth relative to the other main gripper arm (1.2) along the first straight portion (1.3).

5. The gripper (3) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The two secondary gripper arms (2.1, 2.2) of the second group (2) include a second straight portion (2.3), one of the gripper arms (2.2) being able to slide back and forth relative to the other gripper arm (2.1) along the second straight portion (2.3).

6. The gripper (3) according to claim 3, 4 or 5, characterized in that, The straight portions (1.3, 2.3) of the gripper arms of the relevant groups (1, 2) are respectively integrated with one of the main gripper arms (1.1, 1.2) and / or one of the secondary gripper arms (2.1, 2.2) of the gripper arms of the relevant groups (1, 2).

7. The gripper (3) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, The distance between the gripper arm of the first group (1) and the gripper arm of the second group (2) is adjustable.

8. The gripper (3) according to claim 7, characterized in that, The gripper is arranged to set the distance between the gripper arms of the first group (1) and the gripper arms of the second group (2) after the legs of the bird are gripped by the gripper arms.

9. A vision-guided robot (4) for picking up poultry (8) from a supply line (14) and placing the poultry (8) in a poultry carrier (6) of a carrier conveyor (5), characterized in that, The vision-guided robot (4) is provided with at least one gripper (3) according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. A system for automatically suspending poultry (8), the system automatically suspending the poultry (8) on a carrier (6) of a carrier conveyor (5) by means of legs (8''), the system comprising a supply line (14) for the poultry (8) to be suspended, wherein, The system includes imaging devices (11, 13) connected to a decision tool (12) for processing images of poultry (8) received from the imaging devices (11, 13) from the supply line (14), and the decision tool (12) is arranged to detect the poultry and control a vision-guided robot (4) to pick up the poultry (8) from the supply line (14) by engaging the poultry (8) at its leg (8''), and subsequently suspend the poultry (8) by the leg (8'') on the carrier (6) of the carrier conveyor (5), characterized in that the vision-guided robot (4) is provided with at least one gripper according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

11. The system according to claim 10, characterized in that, The decision-making tool (12) is configured to control the vision-guided robot (4) to perform the following processing steps based on images received from the imaging devices (11, 13): a. When the decision-making tool (12) identifies the leg (8'') of the bird (8) in an image received from the imaging device (11, 13), the decision-making tool (12) is arranged to engage the leg (8'') with the vision-guided robot (4), pick up the bird (8) through the leg (8''), and suspend the bird (8) through the leg (8'') onto the carrier (6) of the carrier conveyor (5); and b. If the decision tool (12) fails to identify the leg (8'') of the bird (8) in the image received from the imaging device (11, 13), the decision tool (12) is arranged to search for and identify the head (8') of the bird (8) in the image from the imaging device, and after identifying the head (8') of the bird (8), the decision tool (12) is arranged to cause the vision-guided robot (4) to move at least by means of the main gripper of the first set (1). The claw arms (1.1, 1.2) engage the head (8') of the bird (8) and drag the bird (8) along the supply line (14) for a predetermined length through the head (8'). Then, step a is repeated to identify the legs (8'') of the bird (8) and pick up the bird (8) by engaging the legs (8'') and suspend the bird (8) on the carrier (6) of the carrier conveyor (5) through the legs (8'').

12. A method for automatically suspending poultry (8) by means of legs (8'') on a carrier (6) of a carrier conveyor (5), the method comprising supplying poultry (8) on a supply line (14), imaging and processing images of poultry (8) from the supply line (14) to detect poultry (8), and controlling a vision-guided robot (4) comprising a gripper according to any one of claims 1 to 6, the gripper being used to pick up poultry (8) from the supply line (14) by engaging poultry (8) at the legs (8''), and subsequently suspending poultry (8) on the carrier (6) of the carrier conveyor (5) by means of the legs (8''), characterized in that, The legs of the bird are engaged by: positioning the gripper (3) such that the first leg of the bird is positioned between the main grippers of the gripper (3) and the second leg of the bird is positioned between the secondary grippers of the gripper (3); and thereafter, at least one of the main grippers is moved toward the other main gripper to grip the first leg, and at least one of the secondary grippers is moved toward the other secondary gripper to grip the second leg.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that, The first leg is gripped by moving the two main gripper arms (1.1, 1.2) toward each other, and the second leg is gripped by moving the two secondary gripper arms (2.1, 2.2) toward each other, such that the distance between the gripper arms of the first group (1) and the gripper arms of the second group (2) corresponds to the leg spacing, which represents the distance between the legs (8'') of the poultry carcass (8) when suspended on the hook for suspending and transporting the poultry carcass (8).

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that, The gripper is first positioned in a first position to grip the first leg via the main gripper arm, and is then moved to a second position to grip the second leg via the secondary gripper arm.

15. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 14, characterized in that, The step of engaging the bird's leg with the gripper (3) is performed by executing the following sub-steps: a. In the case where the image shows the leg (8'') of the bird (8), the vision-guided robot (4) is arranged to engage the leg (8''), pick up the bird (8) through the leg (8''), and suspend the bird (8) through the leg (8'') onto the carrier (6) of the carrier conveyor (5); and b. If the image does not show the legs (8'') of the bird (8), the image is processed to search for and identify the head (8') of the bird (8) in the image, and arranged such that after the head (8') of the bird (8) is identified, the vision-guided robot is controlled to grasp the bird (8) through the head (8') and drag the bird (8) along the supply line (14) for a predetermined length, and then step a is repeated to identify the legs (8'') in the image of the bird, wherein the vision-guided robot then picks up the bird through the legs (8'') and suspends the bird on the carrier (6) of the carrier conveyor (5) through the legs (8'').

16. A computer program loaded on a computer-readable medium and executable in a processor having memory, the computer program embodying a decision-making tool of the system according to claim 9 or 10, the computer program, when loaded in the processor and the memory, causing the system according to claim 9 or 10 to perform the operations according to any one of claims 12 to 15 of the method.

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