Robot Janitors Are Coming to Mop Floors at a Walmart Near You
Robot Janitors Are Coming to Mop Floors at a Walmart Near
You
By Pavel Alpeyev December 3, 2018
Robots are coming to a Walmart Inc. near you, and not
just as a gimmick.
The world’s largest retailer is rolling out 360
autonomous floor-scrubbing robots in some of its stores in the U.S. by the end
of the January, it said in a joint statement with Brain Corp., which makes the
machines. The autonomous janitors can clean floors on their own even when
customers are around, according to the San Diego-based startup.
Walmart has already been experimenting with automating
the scanning of shelves for out-of-stock items and hauling products from
storage for online orders. Advances in computer vision are also making it
possible to use retail floor data to better understand consumer behavior,
improve inventory tracking and even do away with checkout counters, as
Amazon.com Inc. is trying to do with its cashierless stores. Brain’s robots are
equipped with an array of sensors that let them to gather and upload data.
“We can take anything that has wheels and turn it into a
fully autonomous robot, provided that it can go slow and stopping is never a
safety concern,” said Brain Chief Executive Office Eugene Izhikevich. “And it’s
more than just navigation. It is to robots what Android operating system is to
smartphones.”
Brain doesn’t make its own hardware, focusing instead on
developing software — BrainOS — that endows machines with autonomy in closed
environments. At first, the machines were need to be operated by humans, who
“teach” the layout of the space that needs cleaning. After that the robots can
perform the task autonomously.
The robots, which look like a cross between a miniature
Zamboni and a motorized wheel chair, already scrub floors at airports in
Seattle, San Diego, Boston and Miami, Izhikevich said. Brain last month
unveiled a smaller version of the machine developed jointly with SoftBank Group
Corp.’s robotics arm and aimed at the Japanese market. At that time, Izhikevich
said he’s looking to deploy the robots for security patrol and deliveries
inside big-box stores.
“BrainOS is a powerful tool in helping our associates
complete repetitive tasks so they can focus on other tasks within role and
spend more time serving customers,” John Crecelius, Walmart’s vice president of
central operations, said in the statement.
©2018 Bloomberg L.P.
Comments
Post a Comment