What Is a Service Robot?
Service robot is a great tool that can substitute human workers and significantly improve quality of service industries as it has been designed to complete a wide range of tedious and time-consuming tasks as well as dirty jobs. Generally, service robots are special devices that free people from repetitive and dull tasks by performing them quickly and efficiently.
Service robots can be operated through inbuild control system that has full or partial autonomy. Robots with full autonomy require no active participation from human while partial autonomous models need interaction with humans to complete necessary tasks.
Service robots have lots of unparalleled advantages. Some of them improve work productivity and efficiency, while others can easily perform tasks in unsafe environments or specialize in analysis and collecting data.
Amazon Creates Robots with Kia Systems
Retail giant Amazon became interested in warehouse robots when it acquired Kiva Systems for $777 million, in 2012. After the acquisition of Kiva Systems by Amazon, Kiva has stopped its marketing activities and its assets now deal only with Amazon’s warehouses. Moreover, Amazon has also established a special business unit called Amazon Robotics. At the moment, Amazon has up to 200,000 service robots that considerably increased its productivity in online retail and logistics business sectors.
According to Kiva’s approach, all the items are located on the special storage units. When a new order appears in the Kiva database system, its software sends the signal to the closest robot. Eventually, it reaches the needed storage unit, retrieves necessary items and delivers them to the human operator who carries out other operations.
Amazon has used thousands of robots in dozens of distribution centers across the United States that have considerably accelerated their success and productivity.
Brain Corp
Brain Corp is a technology company established in San Diego focusing on development and improvement of intelligent navigation systems of service robots. Nowadays, the company thoroughly works on development of advanced machine learning and computer vision systems for self-driving robots that will make their interaction with humans even more efficient.
Brain Corp company is always evolving and with its continuously expanding software development options, it provides retailers with the opportunity to customize their systems in compliance with their needs.
For example, Ahold’s subsidiaries including supermarkets such as Giant, Martin's and Stop & Shop, acquired about 500 «Marty» robots from Badger Technologies to help to accelerate in-store safety and productivity. It is a six-foot robot with a sleek design and beautiful eyes that roll around the supermarket in search of hazards such as liquid or bulk food-items spills and alerts workers about the possible danger.
Marty features navigation systems, various sensors, its own software systems as well as high-resolution cameras that allow it to travel around the store safely and complete monotonous tasks quickly. It can easily substitute an associate who actually does the same thing.
Badger Technologies is a product division of Jabil offering top-notch service robot solutions that can identify and resolve multiple data and inventory disconnects as well as to improve quality of store operations and financial performance.
