The robots of the future are already among us

Added on 04 May 2021

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The robots of the future are already among us

From robot priests to apple pickers, these machines are bringing a robotic touch to the workplace. Robots might not be coming for our jobs, but they're already proving useful coworkers in fields as diverse as medicine, horticulture and religion. Able to interpret the world around them using sensors and machine learning, these robots have very specific roles to play in industrial processes, working side by side with their human colleagues.

The ISO Robot Plug Planting Machine rolls through this Dutch greenhouse, its robot arms nimbly pulling a row of lisianthus seedlings from a tray before delicately planting them at a rate of 18,000 a day. The robot arm's gripper features cameras and sensors that carefully measure as it plants, to ensure the seedlings are placed in the soil without harm and at a consistent depth.

SPENCER LOWELL

To carefully pick apples, Abundant Robotics' harvester uses LIDAR to navigate orchards and AI to identify ripe fruit from foliage, using a vacuum arm to suck apples from the tree. Shown here at Mohar Orchard in Washington, the apple picker is already in use in the US and New Zealand, two countries facing agricultural labour shortages.

SPENCER LOWELL

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