Automated deli slicer

Case Study

The Hobart Automatic Deli Slicer is designed for precision, yield, and consistency in foodservice operations.

Project Summary

Industry

Food Processing

Location

Hobart

Business Situation

Hobart needed enhancements in the design of the Automatic Deli Slicer to achieve new levels of precision, yield and consistency.

Technical Situation

This Automatic Deli Slicer needed a linear 3-phase BLDC motor to allow power assisted slicing to reduce fatigue and increase percision.

Solution

Occam Technology Group performed hardware/firmware design and development of UI, sensor, power, communication and motion control sub-systems.

Benefits

We developed a motor that geometricly “memorizes” a manual stroke, reproducing it at multiple speeds, fully automating slicing in high-volume applications.

Services

  • Design engineering
  • Motor Control Technology
  • Hardware engineering
  • Sensory Development

Hardware Design for the Automatic Deli Slicer

Hobart is a leading manufacturer of food equipment products for cooking, food preparation, dishwashing, waste reduction, weighing and packaging. This company was established in 1897 in Troy, Ohio to provide premium equipment for commercial and institutional foodservice and food retail professionals. They designed the Automatic Deli Slicer to achieve new levels of precision, yield and consistency. This machine is used in many chain restaurants and retail establishments across the globe to ensure precision with every cut.

Occam Technology Group helped Hobart develop a precise indexing mechanism that creates consistent slices. We used hardware/firmware development of Microchip dsPIC to implement a linear 3-phase BLDC motor for power assisted slicing to reduce fatigue. This new motor geometry “memorizes” a manual stroke, reproducing it at multiple speeds for fully automatic slicing in high-volume applications. This product also involved PFC based 380VDC bus generation and development of UI, sensor, power, communication and motion control sub-systems for over/under RMS current and fault detection.