The 'soft' robot hand that can pick and pack fruit - and can even tell when produce is perfectly ripe

Has rubber-like chambers as fingers that adapt to the object's shape
Pressurized air is pumped into fingers to control movements
Robot will be programmed to decipher if a fruit or vegetable is ripe or not
Is more cost effective and could eventually replace human workers

Published: 18:46 EST, 31 January 2017 | Updated: 13:22 EST, 1 February 2017

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A new robot is fueling fears about jobs being replaced by technology.

British firm Ocado, the world's largest online-only supermarket, is testing a soft robotic hand that can delicately pick-up and pack fruits and vegetables in its warehouse.

Called the RBO Hand 2, the machine's fingers consist of flexible material and uses pressurized air to grasp objects - and could replace many of the human workers.

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Ocado, the world's largest online-only supermarket, is testing a soft robotic hand that can delicately pick-up and pack fruits and vegetables in its warehouse. Called the RBO Hand 2, the machine's fingers consist of flexible material and uses pressurized air to grasp objects

HOW DOES IT WORK?

RBO Hand 2 has fingers made of flexible material, which air is pumped into in order to grab objects.

Actuators are positioned on the printed scaffold and air is pushed through specific areas of the hand to regulate its movements.

In the future, Ocada foresees the RBO Hand 2 identifying whether a fruit or vegetable is ripe enough for shipping by adding computer vision to the robot.

RBO Hand 2 is part of the firm's SoMa (Soft Manipulation) project and is a collaboration with universities in Italy, Germany and Austria, as well as Disney research.

There are about 4,000 humans employed in Ocado's warehouses, and pick and packing are major roles at the facilities.

Alex Harvey, the head of the robotic and autonomous systems at the company, told WIRED that 'The overall goal is to automate picking of every single item we have'.

Ocado noted that it has integrated more automation into its warehouses and expanded its operations, the number of people employed has grown.

Prior to this game-changing robot, machines were unable to grab soft objects without bruising or damaging them – but that is where RBO Hand 2 comes in.

'One of the main challenges of robotic manipulation has been the handling of easily damageable and unpredictably shaped objects such as fruit and vegetable groceries,' aid Dr. Graham Deacon, robotics research team leader at Ocado Technology.

'These products have unique shapes and should be handled in a way that does not cause damage or bruising.'

'To avoid damaging sensitive items, the project uses a compliant gripper in conjunction with an industrial robot arm.

WILL ROBOTS TAKE YOUR JOB?

In a recent McKinsey report, the researchers looked at many factors of workplace automation, including the 'technical feasibility' of certain activities.

Based on this factor, certain jobs were at greater risk, including:

- 59 percent of manufacturing activities could be automated. Within this field, the researchers say 90 percent of the activities of welders, cutters, solderers and brazers could be done by a robot.

- 73 percent of activities in food service and accommodations could be automated

- 53 percent of retail work could be automated; 47 percent of the salesperson’s job could be automated, while 86 percent of bookkeepers, accountant and auditing clerks has this potential

- They also detailed the activities with low potential for automation:

- Education

- Healthcare, especially those which require expertise and direct contact with patients, like dental hygienist

- 'Knowledge work,' including management jobs

The air pressure is the only component controlled, while the while the fingers, palm, and thumb adjust their shape to the given object when airflow is pumped into the hand.

Actuators are positioned on the printed scaffold and air is pushed through specific areas of the hand to regulate its movements.

This simplifies control and enables effective exploitation of the environment.

There are some 4,000 humans employed in Ocado's main warehouse, and pick and packing are major roles in the facilities. Alex Harvey, the head of the robotic and autonomous systems at the company, said that 'The overall goal is to automate picking of every single item we have'

'We designed a set of experiments to evaluate grasping performance on an example set of artificial fruit stored in an International Fruit Container tray,' said Deacon.

The hand used areas of the tray to pick-up objects, which proved the machine 'is able to successfully grasp a variety of shapes'.

The air pressure is the only component controlled, while the while the fingers, palm, and thumb adjust their shape to the given object- and are controlled by airflows. Actuators are positioned on the printed scaffold and air is pushed through areas of the hand

MORE ROBOT SOLDIERS BY 2030

A top US general responsible for shaping the military of the future has revealed that robots could make up a quarter of the army within the next few decades.

General Robert Cone said last year that the hi-tech machines will fight alongside soldiers on the battlefield by 2030 or 2040, in a bid to make the army 'a smaller, more lethal, deployable and agile force'.

He said modern health and safety concerns designed to keeping soldiers safe - adding armour and protection to vehicles and personnel - has caused the army to lose some of its lethal edge, but hinted that robots could revitalize its killing force.

The US Army has a long-running mission to create autonomous robots - machines capable of making decisions, in real time, on the front line to changing circumstances.

More than a decade of war in Afghanistan and Iraq has allowed the public to see the huge resources already dedicated to unmanned systems; from the high-flying Global Hawk to the lethal Predator drones to hand-launched Raven.

In the future, Ocada foresees the RBO Hand 2 identifying whether a fruit or vegetable is ripe enough for shipping.

'The RBO Hand 2 offers a versatile, cost-effective and safe solution for robotic grasping and manipulation that integrates very well with Ocado's highly-automated warehouses,' Deacon shared.

The soft robotic robot isn't the only robot sharing the floor with human employees at Ocado.

The firm also developed a humanoid maintenance worker, named SecondHands, helps keep the warehouse clean.

The soft robotic robot isn't the only robot sharing the floor with human employees. The firm also developed a humanoid maintenance worker, named SecondHands (pictured), helps keep the warehouse clean