Ocado reveals robot warehouse workers

ONLINE supermarket Ocado is preparing to introduce a robot to help warehouse workers pick and pack food for deliveries.

The robot ( pictured), which has been likened to Luke Skywalker’s sidekick C3P0 in Star Wars, is designed to be a second pair of hands for technicians by providing precision or physical strength not available to humans.

With help from a number of universities around Europe, Ocado has developed the ARMAR-6 robot which will be able to respond to orders, but also provide help proactively. Ocado’s robot research chief Graham Deacon said: ‘The ultimate aim is for the robot to be able to recognise where in a maintenance task the technician is and understand what will be a good thing for it to do in order to assist the technician.’

The development builds on Ocado’s already strong robotic software technology, which is deployed in its grid-like warehouses to prepare customer orders. Last year it signed a deal with French supermarket Groupe Casino to provide it with its technology.