The Marel IPL (Intelligent Portion Loading) robot is designed to pick up portions of product such as cooked or fresh meat, and fish and then place these into trays or onto a thermo-former in an automated processing line. One of a series of Industrial Design projects for Marel, The IPL Robot is a complex machine and in its previous incarnation, had a complex aesthetic. The basis of the redesign was therefore visual simplification.

All elements of the stainless steel housing that added to the visual complexity were removed or reconsidered with the aim of creating a strong, modern and clean aesthetic. The front of the machine is expressed as two simple doors with large glazed apertures that lead the eye directly to the intricate robot mechanism which features new streamlined motor housings. At the rear of the machine, the electrical cabinet is more integrated into the overall machine and the flush, full width, doors help to strengthen the inclusive aesthetic.

Industrial Design work commenced with a series of sketch ideas examining alternatives styling and design solutions and these were gradually refined to the stage where a final concept was chosen and photorealistic CAD visuals (pictured) produced along with outline 3D CAD data. Form Foundry also produced the final ‘Class A’ 3D surface data for the GRP moulded motor housings.