News / News Bulletin

Robot with soft grip used to handle, sort groceries

Thursday, 16 February 2017 1:36 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 16 February 2017 1:36 AM ]

Ocado’s SecondHands humanoid assistant.

Would you fancy shopping at a supermarket totally controlled by robots? Or better yet can you even picture it?

A UK-based online grocery retailer called Ocado is attempting to meet this end by experimenting in various fields of automation.

Ocado’s robotic arm for picking orders is part of a 5-year EU-funded collaboration between 5 European universities and Disney called SoMa. © Ocado

The technologies include a robotic gripper which is soft and flexible enough to handle and sort groceries on customers’ demand.

The shop’s warehouses also use an advanced form of distribution with mechanical picking system comprised of hundreds of swarming robots that move across a high-end grid.

All mechanical organisms are also controlled by an A-I-based air traffic system that keeps them from crashing into each other.

These experiments are the brainchild of a collaborative research project between several European universities and companies called Soft Manipulation or SoMa. But despite the breakthrough in design, those in charge confess that robots have yet a long way ahead before achieving near-human qualities.

While admitting that robots still need men to work, the firm insists on the time and cost efficiency of utilizing robots, noting that more job opportunities will also emerge thanks to these developments.

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