IZYDOR is a unique device in Poland and the European Union—a manipulator designed for collecting bulk material samples, such as grain, corn, or rapeseed. This innovative solution sets new standards in bulk material quality control, fostering technological advancement and improving the efficiency of industrial processes.

"The device's task is to precisely collect grain samples from a transport vehicle to assess quality parameters such as moisture content, impurity levels, and the presence of fungi, mold, or harmful substances. The results allow for evaluating the quality of transported materials before they are delivered to storage facilities, silos, or forwarded to recipients. A significant technical challenge is obtaining samples from multiple points within the semi-trailer and from all layers of the transported material. Existing devices tend to be unreliable, unintuitive to operate, and expensive. Our team has focused on developing a new sampling device," says Marek Wojtyra, PhD, leader of the research team at WUT.

The device’s manipulator assembly is about 7 meters high and is installed on an elevated track approximately 12 meters long. Thanks to this robust mechanism, samples can be collected directly from tall truck semi-trailers. A distinguishing feature of the device—achieved through dimensional optimization—is the intuitive, nearly straight-line motion of the inserted probe, which was unattainable in previous mechanisms of similar design. Additionally, the device is equipped with a bidirectional overload protection mechanism that prevents accidental damage during both lowering and raising of the probe. A fully electric drive was employed, eliminating hydraulic components, and automation systems were also developed to simplify the device’s operation, managed through a convenient operator panel.

The result of the design work, led by Krzysztof Mianowski, PhD, is an advanced manipulator structure developed according to the latest manufacturing trends. This approach makes it possible to minimize the number of device components, reduce the materials consumed in production, and cut down on the number of manufacturing operations.

Work on the device was preceded by extensive environmental, market, and functional research, as well as analyses regarding the conditions for implementing the technology. The project was carried out by an interdisciplinary team of experts. On behalf of WUT, the project was carried out by researchers from the Division of Theory of Machines and Robots at the Faculty of Power and Aeronautical Engineering: Marek Wojtyra, PhD, Krzysztof Mianowski, PhD, Marek Surowiec, PhD, Marcin Pękal, PhD, Grzegorz Kamiński, MSc, and Tomasz Barczak, MSc. The project was commissioned by CEREUS WENA, whose experts—Marcin Witkowski, MSc, and Maciej Kostrubiec, BSc —also took part in the work.

The project was partially funded by the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (grant POIR.02.03.02-04-0008/20) under the "Innovation Voucher for SMEs" program.

The "IZYDOR" device has been submitted as an invention to the Polish Patent Office and the European Patent Office, obtaining two European patents.