Walmart to expand ‘robot janitors’ in stores
Brain Corp’s BrainOS platform currently automates more than a hundred of Walmart’s fleet of commercial floor scrubbers across the U.S., providing the machines with autonomous navigation and cloud-based data collection capabilities. With the agreement, Walmart says it expects to have 360 BrainOS-powered machines in stores by the end of January 31, 2019.
The autonomous floor scrubbers allow store associates to quickly map a route during an initial training ride and then activate autonomous floor cleaning with the press of a single button. The robot uses multiple sensors to scan its surroundings for people and obstacles, providing the industry’s highest level of safety and performance, say the companies.
“We’re excited to work with Brain Corp in supporting our retail operations and providing our associates with a safe and reliable technology,” says John Crecelius, Walmart’s VP of Central Operations. “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.”
Dr. Eugene Izhikevich, CEO of Brain Corp. says, “We are thrilled to partner with Walmart to enhance customer experience at its retail locations. BrainOS technology allows robots to effectively and safely function in complex, crowded environments, ensuring increased productivity and efficiency across applications. We look forward to continuing to work alongside Walmart to help build intelligent, connected stores.”
Brain Corp was founded in 2009 and is funded by the SoftBank Vision Fund and Qualcomm Ventures.
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