Walmart deploys an army of item-seeking robots.
Prototypes have been deployed in 50 stores
MILPITAS >> Walmart has begun testing at some Bay Area stores intelligent robots that can meld artificial intelligence with autonomous movements to assess inventories on store shelves, the retailer and a tech startup said Tuesday.
Using technology developed by Bossa Nova Robotics, a software startup in the Bay Area, Walmart has deployed robots in 50 of its stores to determine what’s on the company’s shelves.
“We are testing the technology to scan shelves,” said Tiffany Wilson, a spokeswoman for Walmart. “Each shelf aisle can be scanned in two or three minutes. We are using that data to potentially inform our associates to determine which areas need the most attention.”
The company’s robots can zip down a retailer’s aisles and scan shelves. At the same time a robot navigates through a store, it continuously returns information to indicate what’s sold and unsold in the store.
“We want to make sure that when a customer comes into a store, that we have the right items, in the right place, and at the right price,” Wilson said.
Arkansas-based Walmart is testing the robots in 50 of its stores, including one in Milpitas.
But does all this mean Walmart stores will soon employ many robots and hardly any humans?
“It’s looking at tasks that are repeatable, predictable,” Wilson said. “This way, our associates can spend their time focusing on customers and selling merchandise. While the job may change, and the type of work being done may change, robots are not going to replace human contact and human touch.”
The robots can move at roughly 7.9 inches a second,
which works out to about 0.45 miles an hour.
“We are building a technology that for all intents and purposes is like a selfdriving car,” Hitch said. “While we don’t have the risks of big machines moving at fast speeds, we do have the challenge of navigating a space that is constantly changing.”
Robots being used in the Walmart tests are typically ordered to conduct scans in a specified zone of a store. So if an aisle is blocked, a robot must determine an alternate route and remember which aisles and shelves haven’t been scanned in a current pass so that it can return to a deferred task.
Bossa Nova’s technology blends robotic and mechanical technologies with software and communications with the cloud.
San Francisco-based Bossa Nova is working with five retailers in tests of the store robots. The fledgling tech firm didn’t disclose which retailers besides Walmart have begun to conduct tests.
“The way Walmart tests, innovates and iterates is light years ahead of everyone else,” said Martin Hitch, chief business officer with Bossa Nova. “Walmart is already a data-driven company and we are another layer of data. By partnering with Walmart, we have been able to refine what it takes to operate in a space like a store. Walmart is finding out what are the problems they need to address and the processes they need to change.”
Bossa Nova so far has raised about $45 million in venture financing, Hitch said. The company also is scouting for another round of funding.
Walmart is testing the technology in a Milpitas store and two stores in San Jose.
“Interaction is key and we will always deal directly with people at Walmart,” Wilson said. “Robots are not going to replace people at our stores.”