Collaborative robots, or ‘cobots’, could soon be a thing of the near future (Picture: Getty Images/Westend61)

A workforce shortage because of Brexit could soon mean your morning latte is served to you by a robot.

Fewer migrant workers could mean there will be a surge in the number of robots working in restaurants and bars, experts have warned.

Collaborative robots, or ‘cobots’, are seen as the less expensive, smaller and safer version of traditional robots that can be found on factory floors.

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Cobots would start at £10,000 as opposed to the £100,000 that a traditional factory robot would cost, and it’s this price difference and also fear of a lack of an immigrant workforce that has led to a huge increase in orders from UK businesses.




Mark Gray, of Universal Robots, told trade magazine The Manufacturer: ‘In the past month I’ve sold six cobots to companies that are struggling to find staff because eastern Europeans either aren’t coming over or in sufficient numbers or are returning home.’

The cobot will be more lightweight and safer than a standard robotic arm (Picture: John Henry Foster)

Cobots are designed to work alongside humans, and analysts say this will help free up humans for more productive roles. The lightweight artificial arms are already in use by companies like Jaguar Land Rover and BMW Group.

A study from the Massachussets Institute of Technotlogy (MIT) showed that co-operation between robots and humans is more productive than solely using either robots or humans and increases human idle time by 85%.

Cobots are now being trained for less industrial purposes, like fetching drinks, boxing food or even soft tissue massages, as is being trailed in Singapore. Their uses are expected to increase as technology improves.

Up until Brexit, the UK was relatively slow to adopt robot workforces, with about 71 robots per 10,000 workers, compared with 132 in France and 309 in Germany, according to the International Federation of Robotics.

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