Online retailer trials arm that can select fruit and vegetables without damaging them – but says it will still need humans

Ocado is testing a robot hand that can pick and pack fruit and vegetables in a move that could reduce its reliance on thousands of warehouse workers.



The online grocery retailer is developing the machines in partnership with academic institutions in Germany, Italy and Austria as well as Disney Research – a Zurich-based lab that is part of the US entertainment group behind Mickey Mouse and Frozen.

Ocado currently employs about 4,000 people at its warehouses, and grocery picking is a key part of their job as handling of easily damageable and unpredictably shaped objects such as fruits, vegetables or eggs is difficult to mechanise. The latest development will fuel fears about jobs being replaced by technology.

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Automated warehouses have been in use for decades and Ocado, which delivers groceries for Waitrose and Morrisons, already uses a variety of robots in its operations. Those working in its warehouses are guided by technology to ensure they work efficiently. But the variation in shape and fragile nature of fruit and vegetables mean that historically they have been susceptible to damage or bruising when handled by robots.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Ocado’s SoMa robot arm picking an apple



So far, Ocado has tested the RBO Hand 2 developed by the Technische Universität in Berlin with two different robotic arms: the LBR iiwa14, an “intelligent industrial work assistant” designed by German robotics firm Kuka to work closely with humans for “greater cost-effectiveness and utmost efficiency”, and the Staubli RX160L, an industrial robot designed for “harsh environments”.

Ocado is also working on creating its own robot hand using machine learning and 3D “computer vision” sensors to ensure it can grab a range of tricky objects including eggs, glass bottles and household cleaning products, such as bleach, that could be hazardous if spilled. It is also trying to train the hands to recognise when fruit is ripe or mouldy.

Alex Voica from Ocado’s technology arm said: “Ideally we will be able to develop one robot hand, or a small number of hands, that will be able to deal with a whole range of objects.”

Ocado is also helping to develop a humanoid robot, SecondHands, which uses machine learning to provides assistance to human technicians carrying out warehouse maintenance tasks.

“The whole aim of what we are doing is to boost productivity. Right now we are limited by the capability of the warehouse and by the productivity of humans.” Voica said. Ocado has already been able to improve the productivity of its staff by 50% by improving the systems that bring goods to packers and it was possible it could get the same kind of boost again.

Ocado has been investing heavily in technology as it tries to increase profits and sell its knowhow to overseas retailers.

The Hatfield-based company currently has 50 innovations seeking a patent and took on more than 200 extra tech experts last year, taking its total to 950 on top of 200 qualified engineers. Over the next year it expects to hire another 100 IT and engineering professionals as it opens two new warehouses and tries to persuade international retailers to use its software and technology.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Ocado’s SecondHands humanoid assistant. Photograph: Ocado

Duncan Tatton-Brown, Ocado’s finance director, said the company was looking at using robot hands “over time” but there was no deadline for their introduction. He said the new warehouses would be automated but would “still need lots of people”.

“We are not only creating more operational jobs but creating a lot more jobs for software and hardware engineers. We are inventing and patenting things which is good news. We are creating innovations in the UK and we would argue we are a market leader in the world,” Tatton-Brown said.

The company, founded by three former Goldman Sachs bankers in 2000, delivered its first profit in 2015 after 15 years of investment in technology and warehouse systems.

On Tuesday, the company reported a 22% rise in pre-tax profits to £14.5m, before £2.4m of exceptional items mostly related to the company moving its head office. Sales rose 13.6% to £1.3bn as a rise in customer numbers offset a fall in the average order size as Ocado was forced to cut prices amid heavy competition in the grocery market as major players such as Tesco try to fight off the fast-growing discounters Aldi and Lidl.

• This article was amended on 3 February 2017 to correct details of the robot hand and arms tested by Ocado.