CRC'25 Lightning Talk - How Cable Robots Are Transforming Sanitation in Iceland’s Largest Fish Plant

Описание: Presenter: Frédéric Vachon

In food production, cleaning isn’t just routine, it’s essential. For one of Europe’s largest seafood processors, traditional manual sanitation posed persistent challenges: difficulty in staffing overnight shifts, inconsistent results, rising labor costs, and increasing pressure to meet stringent hygiene standards. To address these issues, Rbot9 deployed VOTTA™, an overhead cleaning system powered by a cable-driven platform, robotic arm, and high-pressure spray nozzles.

Operating above the production floor, VOTTA™ automates sanitation across 900 m² per unit, reaching walls, ceilings, equipment contours, and floors, all without disrupting layouts or requiring additional infrastructure. Within months, the system can delivered:

$728K in annual savings after full rollout
ROI in 17 months
3–4 fewer workers needed per robot deployed
Traceable, audit-ready cleaning cycles with improved hygiene consistency
Reduced exposure to chemicals and fewer repetitive strain incidents for workers
Unlike mobile or fixed systems, VOTTA™ adapts to complex environments and retracts overhead when idle, preserving workflows and maximizing space. It standardizes sanitation, eliminates human error, and operates tirelessly, freeing up teams for higher-value tasks. This lightning talk will share lessons from this deployment, and why cable robotics like VOTTA™ are reshaping sanitation in food and protein processing, offering a smarter, scalable alternative for facilities grappling with labor shortages, stricter regulations, and the urgent need to do more with less.