Not long ago, foreign media began to spread the news that Amazon was about to open a robotic supermarket. Lei Fengnet (public number: Lei Feng network) also reported on this news, reporting that Amazon will use robots instead of humans in supermarkets. The news got Amazon's official rumor, but it also sidelines people’s vision and recognition for robots to do some manual labor instead of humans. Although Amazon did not reveal the meaning of being a robotic supermarket, Okado, a British online video retailer known as "The Amazon of the Food Industry," is starting to rush. According to media news, UK-based online supermarket Ocado recently announced that the company plans to test a new robot in one of its warehouses, the RBO Hand 2. This robot will be loaded onto a robotic arm to be used for the grabbing and packaging of fresh foods. .
The "food industry Amazon" R & D robots can pack persimmons and eggs in the supermarket. It is understood that the RBO Hand 2 manipulator uses the latest technology, and when it is mounted on a robotic arm, it can become a complete robot. The robot's arm and fingers are smart enough to pick up a bag of citrus or bananas, even when dealing with fragile food such as eggs, without damaging the food and guaranteeing it is as safe as a person's hands. For large online supermarkets such as Ocado, which can receive a large number of orders each day, on the one hand, it can improve packaging efficiency and reduce labor expenses. On the other hand, it can also reduce the damage caused by human errors. At present, the mechanized management of warehousing is no longer a new thing for large-scale e-commerce companies. A complete set of transmission systems such as manipulators, cranes, conveyor belts, etc., has become the standard for e-commerce warehouse management. So why should Ocado be such a robot? According to Paul Clarke, CTO of Ocado, the traditional mechanized management system can be very efficient in some aspects, and it is also easy to maintain in terms of programming. You can do what they do and they can do well. But this kind of system adaptability is not very strong, if you want to suddenly change the way your warehouse operates, or change the product category (many robotic arms can only manage the fixed shape of the items for management, if you change the product you need to recode ), Or change the strategy of the product line, you must make a big rectification of the entire system, start designing your mechanized management system again, it sounds very troublesome. This new robot is developed by the cooperation between Ocado and TÃœV. This project is also an integral part of the SoMa project. The SoMa project is an EU funded Horizon 2020 project for the research and innovation of humanoid robots. Some of Disney's research (such as park robotics) is also in this project. According to reports, the end of the new robot developed by Ocado uses a human-like design and it can be a complete robot with the robot arm. On the “fingerâ€, the R&D team studied a machine module that can pick up soft objects that can control the motion of the robot's fingers through air pressure. Hand pressure and shape can be adjusted according to various shapes of objects. In other words, RBO Hand 2 robots can be used as humans to capture all kinds of strange goods with different postures and sizes, which can meet the "adaptation" demand of large-scale warehouses.
“Food Amazon’s†R&D robots can pack persimmons and eggs in supermarkets. In the current test, the Ocado team installed RBO Hand 2 robots on two different robotic arms, namely Staubli RX 160L and kuka LBR iiwa14. Tested, both arms can successfully grab fruits and vegetables, regardless of shape and size. Ocado said that this is only the beginning, far from being practical, and there are still many problems that need to be solved. For example, current robotic tests are all performed under laboratory conditions. The objects that are picked up are all on flat desks. When robots are used for practical purposes, the environment they face is much more complicated. Without testing to prove that the robot is capable of working in a changing environment, the company also expressed its desire to be able to test in more arms and in more complex situations. In addition to being able to safely grab fragile items such as fruits and vegetables, RBO Hand 2's R&D team also said that in the future, it will add computer vision and AI functions to robots, allowing robots to identify items and package them on the job. The R&D team will also invest some experiences in deep learning, so that the robots will be more precise and efficient in their work. In fact, as early as 2015, Ocado announced a robot project named "SecondHand Project" to develop humanoid robots with artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced vision systems to "increase the safety, efficiency, and productivity of the workplace." . At that time, the company worked with a number of universities to develop automated robots that could be used in multiple scenarios, that is, they had some experience in this area. If RBO Hand 2 can be perfectly developed and applied in practical areas, then the "robot supermarket" that people had hoped for will not be too far away.
The "food industry Amazon" R & D robots can pack persimmons and eggs in the supermarket. It is understood that the RBO Hand 2 manipulator uses the latest technology, and when it is mounted on a robotic arm, it can become a complete robot. The robot's arm and fingers are smart enough to pick up a bag of citrus or bananas, even when dealing with fragile food such as eggs, without damaging the food and guaranteeing it is as safe as a person's hands. For large online supermarkets such as Ocado, which can receive a large number of orders each day, on the one hand, it can improve packaging efficiency and reduce labor expenses. On the other hand, it can also reduce the damage caused by human errors. At present, the mechanized management of warehousing is no longer a new thing for large-scale e-commerce companies. A complete set of transmission systems such as manipulators, cranes, conveyor belts, etc., has become the standard for e-commerce warehouse management. So why should Ocado be such a robot? According to Paul Clarke, CTO of Ocado, the traditional mechanized management system can be very efficient in some aspects, and it is also easy to maintain in terms of programming. You can do what they do and they can do well. But this kind of system adaptability is not very strong, if you want to suddenly change the way your warehouse operates, or change the product category (many robotic arms can only manage the fixed shape of the items for management, if you change the product you need to recode ), Or change the strategy of the product line, you must make a big rectification of the entire system, start designing your mechanized management system again, it sounds very troublesome. This new robot is developed by the cooperation between Ocado and TÃœV. This project is also an integral part of the SoMa project. The SoMa project is an EU funded Horizon 2020 project for the research and innovation of humanoid robots. Some of Disney's research (such as park robotics) is also in this project. According to reports, the end of the new robot developed by Ocado uses a human-like design and it can be a complete robot with the robot arm. On the “fingerâ€, the R&D team studied a machine module that can pick up soft objects that can control the motion of the robot's fingers through air pressure. Hand pressure and shape can be adjusted according to various shapes of objects. In other words, RBO Hand 2 robots can be used as humans to capture all kinds of strange goods with different postures and sizes, which can meet the "adaptation" demand of large-scale warehouses.
“Food Amazon’s†R&D robots can pack persimmons and eggs in supermarkets. In the current test, the Ocado team installed RBO Hand 2 robots on two different robotic arms, namely Staubli RX 160L and kuka LBR iiwa14. Tested, both arms can successfully grab fruits and vegetables, regardless of shape and size. Ocado said that this is only the beginning, far from being practical, and there are still many problems that need to be solved. For example, current robotic tests are all performed under laboratory conditions. The objects that are picked up are all on flat desks. When robots are used for practical purposes, the environment they face is much more complicated. Without testing to prove that the robot is capable of working in a changing environment, the company also expressed its desire to be able to test in more arms and in more complex situations. In addition to being able to safely grab fragile items such as fruits and vegetables, RBO Hand 2's R&D team also said that in the future, it will add computer vision and AI functions to robots, allowing robots to identify items and package them on the job. The R&D team will also invest some experiences in deep learning, so that the robots will be more precise and efficient in their work. In fact, as early as 2015, Ocado announced a robot project named "SecondHand Project" to develop humanoid robots with artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced vision systems to "increase the safety, efficiency, and productivity of the workplace." . At that time, the company worked with a number of universities to develop automated robots that could be used in multiple scenarios, that is, they had some experience in this area. If RBO Hand 2 can be perfectly developed and applied in practical areas, then the "robot supermarket" that people had hoped for will not be too far away.
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