Extruded product position control of ice cream products

A system for producing extruded ice cream products, the system comprising:

• a plurality of extruded ice cream products having an ordered arrangement on a plurality of trays that are arranged for movement along a conveyor line, wherein the plurality of trays and the plurality of extruded ice cream products are arranged on the conveyor line for downstream processing;
• at least one sensor that is configured to sense at least one of a vertical product height or a horizontal product position of the plurality of extruded ice cream products arranged on the plurality of trays;
• and
• a processor that is configured to:
• analyze the sensed at least one of the vertical product height or the horizontal product position of the plurality of extruded ice cream products to determine suitability for downstream processing,
• compare the sensed at least one of the vertical product height or the horizontal product position of the plurality of extruded ice cream products to a reference vertical product height or a reference horizontal product position of the plurality of extruded ice cream products, respectively, and
• calculate a vertical product height deviation or a horizontal product position deviation, wherein the processor determines that the plurality of extruded ice cream products are suitable for downstream processing when the calculated deviation is less than a predetermined deviation.