Chef Robotics, a leader in AI-enabled robotic meal assembly for the food manufacturing industry, announced its conveyor connect capability, enabling Chef robots to communicate quickly and reliably with all types of conveyors, including continuous belt conveyors, chain conveyors and indexing (stop-and-go) conveyors.

Food manufacturing facilities typically run automation equipment from multiple vendors, but integrating these systems can be challenging. For example, Chef robots need to adapt to different types of conveyors to precisely deposit ingredients, particularly indexing conveyors that can have very short stop windows.

For continuous belt conveyors, Chef robots use an AI system to read belt speed, track tray positions and orientations in real time, and deposit ingredients precisely. On fast-moving lines where multiple Chef robots operate to maximize throughput, the robots share a real-time feed of tray positions via built-in wireless radios, so each robot knows exactly which tray to target and when. Chef extended this same radio approach to enable direct communication between its robots and the conveyor.

This communication has multiple benefits.

First, it gives Chef robots direct control over conveyor speed. They can read it in real time directly from the conveyor controller, rather than estimating it through camera perception, making tray tracking significantly more accurate and avoiding missed trays. This also enables Chef robots to respond more effectively to sudden upstream or downstream stops and to deposit ingredients more precisely into small inserts, as are common in salads and snack boxes. The robots can also set and dynamically adjust the conveyor's speed to maximize throughput while minimizing missed trays.

Second, it enables stop-and-go coordination, allowing Chef robots to place onto indexing conveyors. When an indexing conveyor stops, it signals the companion box, which tells Chef robots to begin depositing. Once complete, the companion box sends a confirmation signal back to the conveyor to resume movement.

To enable this, Chef developed the conveyor companion box—a small, wireless, waterproof electronics enclosure that attaches to the conveyor's existing VFD control system and contains a radio for direct communication with Chef robots. It integrates with any conveyor quickly with no changes to the existing infrastructure. Chef robots can also move freely between stations and lines. In facilities with multiple conveyors, each robot can be assigned to the right conveyor directly from the HMI. Chef's perception system runs throughout the entire process, verifying tray positions and orientations in real time to ensure precise ingredient placement.

Chef's conveyor connect capability is already deployed in production across multiple customer facilities. One of them is Cafe Spice, where it enables Chef robots to operate within a tight conveyor stop window, requiring a faster, more direct approach than perception alone. With the conveyor companion box, Chef robots receive a direct wireless signal the moment the conveyor halts, minimizing the time it takes to detect stopping trays and make precise deposits before the conveyor starts moving again.

Chef's conveyor integration is widely available to food manufacturers in the U.S., Canada, and the UK and is included as a part of Chef's robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) pricing model.

About Chef Robotics
Chef is the first company to have commercialized a scalable AI-driven food robotics solution. With over 94 million servings made in production, Chef leverages ChefOS, an AI platform for food manipulation, to offer a Robotics-as-a-Service solution that helps industry-leading food companies increase production volume and meet demand. Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, Chef aims to empower humans to do what humans do best by accelerating the advent of intelligent machines.