Engineers at online grocer Ocado Technology have successfully trialled a humanoid robot able to help workers with maintenance tasks at its automated warehouse in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. The result of a five-year long collaborative project involving a number of European partners, the so-called ARMAR-6 robot is able to respond to natural language commands; hold and pass objects of a wide range of shapes and sizes; and even proactively step in when it judges that one of its human colleagues needs a hand. The technology was developed through the Horizon2020 SecondHands project by a consortium including Ocado Technology, Ecole Polytechnique Federate de Lausanne [EPFL], Karlsruhe Institute of Technology [KIT] Sapienza, University of Rome and University College London [UCL]. According to those involved, the project has led to a number of key breakthroughs in robotic perception, task planning and human-robot interaction that pave the way towards the development of intelligent humanoid robots that could ultimately be used in a range of applications.
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