November 12, 2015 at 17:33Robot merchandiser monitors the display of goods on supermarket shelves
The absence on the shelves of the store at the right time of certain goods costs sellers billions of dollars a year. Merchandisers are required to ensure that the goods on the shelves look good and are placed according to the planned scheme. At Simbe Robotics, they are sure that this can be done by the robot - and therefore they are working on Tally, a robot merchandiser on a moving platform that can check the shelves in a small supermarket in an hour. Using four cameras, the Tally
robot monitors goods on shelves up to two and a half meters high. It helps to carry out routine work: it searches where there is no product, where it lies incorrectly or out of place, monitors the correspondence of price tags to existing price lists.
Many stores have their own applications, in which they compose a “map” of goods on the shelves - according to this map merchandisers work, lay out the goods. The robot uses this information to look after the order, and when it finds inconsistencies, it sends a message to the living employees of the supermarket or warehouse to deal with the problem.
Unfortunately, the robot does not have a hand, and it cannot swap items on shelves. The company says that the robots are already being tested in several large supermarkets.
The robots performed well in Amazon warehouses, where thirty thousand Kiva movers are currently transporting racks . Joe Jones, a robotics researcher and entrepreneur, is sure: the main challenge for Tally developers is to make the robot merchandiser manage to work effectively in real conditions.
One of the problems for most of these devices is working in real conditions, where there is a human factor - that is, people, whether they are employees or customers. Buyers, among whom there may be aggressive children and their parents , are more difficult to control. Hitchbot hitchhikers were torn to pieces by an unknown person , and Japanese Kiichi Ishikawa was arrested for beating the unsuccessfully joking emotional robot Pepper.
robot monitors goods on shelves up to two and a half meters high. It helps to carry out routine work: it searches where there is no product, where it lies incorrectly or out of place, monitors the correspondence of price tags to existing price lists.
Many stores have their own applications, in which they compose a “map” of goods on the shelves - according to this map merchandisers work, lay out the goods. The robot uses this information to look after the order, and when it finds inconsistencies, it sends a message to the living employees of the supermarket or warehouse to deal with the problem.
Unfortunately, the robot does not have a hand, and it cannot swap items on shelves. The company says that the robots are already being tested in several large supermarkets.
The robots performed well in Amazon warehouses, where thirty thousand Kiva movers are currently transporting racks . Joe Jones, a robotics researcher and entrepreneur, is sure: the main challenge for Tally developers is to make the robot merchandiser manage to work effectively in real conditions.
One of the problems for most of these devices is working in real conditions, where there is a human factor - that is, people, whether they are employees or customers. Buyers, among whom there may be aggressive children and their parents , are more difficult to control. Hitchbot hitchhikers were torn to pieces by an unknown person , and Japanese Kiichi Ishikawa was arrested for beating the unsuccessfully joking emotional robot Pepper.