An unmanned supermarket named "ministore" opened to business at the Future City in East Lake High-tech Development Zone (Optics Valley of China) in Wuhan, central China's Hubei province, on Oct 12.

Developed by Wuhan COBOT Technology, an artificial intelligence (AI) company based in Optics Valley, the blue hexagonal store is completely operated by robots, which play the roles of manager, sorter, sales clerk, and also warehouse manager.

The store adopts technologies including intelligent sorting system and 3D camera, with sorting recognition accuracy rate up to 99 percent.

According to the director of the ministore project of COBOT, the robots in the store are technologically maintenance free, and such technologies will lead to tremendous changes in the country's warehousing logistics field.

A total of 2,100 goods in 38 categories are available in the ministore, such as instant noodles, candy, mineral water, earphones, and even cold-preserved duck necks.

On the first business day, the store sold 187 goods.

An unmanned supermarket opens at the Future City in Optics Valley of China, Wuhan, Hubei province, on Oct 12. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Consumers queue up in front of the unmanned store at Future City in Optics Valley of China, Wuhan, Oct 12. [Photo provided to China Daily]