The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) created RoboGrocery, a soft robotic system that can back various grocery items, that will be showcased at an international conference.
The researchers tested the robot by placing unknown 10 objects on a grocery conveyor belt and waiting for it to pick up each item.
MIT Introduces RoboGrocery
In a demo video, the MIT Computer Science & Artificial Laboratory (CSAIL) showed how the RoboGrocery functions. The soft robot is designed to pick up all sorts of items in the grocery store.
According to the researchers, traditional robot manipulation solutions require a specific description of each item and the location on where to land the package. To prevent crushing delicate objects, a soft robotic gripper and fingers are used for the project that is equipped with sensors.
"We're actually trying to focus on a metric that people actually care about when you ask them 'What is important for grocery packing?'" said Annan Zhang, one of the authors of the study.
MIT Works on Improving Grocery Packing Through Robots
During the experiment, the researchers lined up grapes, kale, muffins, crackers, cans, meal boxes, and ice cream containers on the conveyor belt. The RoboGrocery will kick its identifying sensors to gauge the items.
Pressure sensors are used to adjust how delicate the item is, allowing the robot to decide where to avoid putting the product. For instance, a loaf of bread would not be placed below the bag regardless of its arrangement in the belt.
The researchers reported that they have made significant improvements in allowing robots to pack groceries and other items. Despite that, RoboGrocery is not yet ready for commercial deployment.
The team claims that the robot still has room for improvement. Upgrades to the system could be added to ensure more features in the future before it gets released to local grocery stores.
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