Walmart’s robot floor cleaner scrubs and polishes all by itself [...]]]>
Walmart’s robot floor cleaner scrubs and polishes all by itself with no worker required to guide it, as shown below:
In addition, Walmart has been using inventory robots to keep its shelves adequately supplied. The machines scan to see what is needed, but cannot physically stock the needed merchandise — yet.
The following article talks as if regular Walmart employees clean the floors and the robots will allow them more time for “customer-centric” work — don’t the stores have janitors for that chore?
In fact, industrial janitor is a job which many low-skilled immigrants take, so perhaps we needn’t continue importing them when so many such occupations will soon be done by smart machines.
]]>AI-Powered, Self-Driving Robots Are Taking On a Bigger Role at Walmart Stores, Motley Fool, March 19, 2019
The world’s largest retailer is making a growing bet on robots and artificial intelligence to gain a competitive edge.
Competition in the retail industry has never been more cutthroat. The dawn of e-commerce has caused a paradigm shift, with traditional retailers having to change with the times or fall by the wayside.
Walmart (NYSE:WMT) is representative not only of the old guard of retail, but also of the transition that is happening among brick-and-mortar stores to adapt to this new reality. In addition to a fierce move into e-commerce, the once-stodgy retailer has embraced cutting-edge technology to help keep costs in check and provide a better shopping experience for its customers.
Case in point: Self-propelled robots are now taking on an increasing role in Walmart’s operations.
Walmart is using self-driving robots to scrub floors. Image source: Brain Corp.
The coming of the ‘bots
Walmart recently revealed it’s bringing self-driving robots powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to its stores to handle the mundane task of floor cleaning. The Auto-C — Autonomous Cleaner uses assisted autonomy as it navigates around Walmart stores, employing a variety of lasers, cameras, and sensors to scan its surroundings for people and obstacles. This technology allows the self-driving robots to function effectively and safely in complex, crowded environments, which leads to increased productivity and efficiency.This often-overlooked chore would typically take Walmart associates (what the retailer calls its employees) about two hours per day, on average. Multiply that by more than 11,000 stores worldwide and that’s a lot of time cleaning floors. Having a robot complete the task frees up Walmart employees for other, more customer-centric tasks.
The self-driving floor cleaners were initially tested in about 100 Walmart stores, and the company recently expanded that rollout to 360 stores. (Continues)