“Robots that can see, learn and grip different items are advancing quickly into the retail, food-and-beverage and consumer-packaged-good industries”, writes Industry Week (July 12, 2019). While deliveries of robots to the U.S. auto industry fell 12% last year, shipments to food and consumer-product companies soared 48%. And robots are needed in many industries. like warehouses, as 
The number of jobs lost to automation is difficult to calculate, in part because one lost position often creates several others in new industries. But almost 40% of U.S. workers are in fields – retail and food service, for example – that will lose jobs to automation by 2030, according to a new McKinsey report.
Most heavy industrial robots still operate blindly and must be surrounded by cages to keep humans out of harm’s way. Any variation, such as handling objects with different sizes or textures, wasn’t possible. Now “grippers” that emulate a gecko’s sticky feet, or use soft polymers that expand to apply just the right amount of pressure, allow robots to take on new, more-nuanced tasks. Cameras let the devices see an object. Artificial intelligence helps them determine the best way to grab it.
To meet expanding needs, OnRobot makes a gripper that relies on millions of gecko-inspired tiny fibrillary stalks that adhere to an object’s surface. The firm also sells “torque-sensor” tools that apply just the right pressure for sanding or polishing.
But some tasks – say, folding clothes or loading a dishwasher – are still out of reach. “It could take 100 years to match the tiny bones, tendons and nerve endings that make the hand so versatile”, says the chairman of robot maker Yaskawa Electric.
Classroom discussion questions:
- Why are agile robots a major step forward?
- How might robots impact the food service industry?