Robot Speeds Up Production At Nagoya Food Manufacturer

A humanoid robot named "Foodly" now works on a production line in an Ichibiki Co. facility in Nagoya, Japan, Yomiuri Shimbun reported.

Photo Insert: A Foodly robot picks up tsukune meatballs with its tong-like hands, working side-by-side with human colleagues.

RT Corp., a Tokyo-based robot-development business, created the robot, which measures 1.53 meters tall and weighs 40 kilos. Ichibiki has begun deploying two of these robots on its retort pouch soup production line to alleviate labor shortages and boost efficiency.

Foodly picks up tsukune meatballs with its tong-like hands and places them in cups using cameras in its head and chest.

The robot can do this operation at the same rate as a human — approximately three seconds — and the organization now only requires one staff to assist with the work, rather than two.

“We should be able to further expand our use of robots since their output never wavers,” a company official said.

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