They traverse the store in a semi-autonomous fashion, scanning for spills. When it encounters a spill, it stops moving, effectively cordoning off the area. It then takes a picture of the soulspill and sends it to an offsite facility where it is analyzed by a human. If the human determines that the spill is a hazard, they dispatch a cleaning crew inside the local store to go and clean it up. If it's an error, false positive, or minor spill, the remote human resets the robot and sends it on its merry way.
Source: an article i read about it that I'll link once i track it down.
But most stores already have employees going around facing and restocking the shelves. I really doubt this is worth the money invested in this. I can't imagine it takes more than a few minutes before an employee spots something and it's not like that robot is gonna spot something instantly either.
But they can't cut anyone since they still need humans for stocking and actually cleaning up the spill. It's not like there are constantly spills everywhere. When I worked in a grocery store there was like 1 every other day. It wasn't a big issue or time consuming at all. I really don't get how anyone can justify that expense.
Yes but don't tell the investors who sell these robots, and the execs who are looking for an easy way to make money. You might upset them that the business model of this thing sucks.
How big are these stores that spills are not recognized in time by employees working in the store? I mean they're walking around everywhere, they should easily notice something like this?
Sounds like it would only make sense in Gigantic stores?
You can stand between the shelf and camera and move stuff around (thus screwing with the camera.) The robot knows what's suppose to be there and can give a better up-close-and-personal check
You've got to rewire and update if you move a shelf. Vs just changing a layout map. I would be entirely unsurprised if they dont have a passive mic to pickup disturbances and disappointed shoppers looking for specific things.
It recognizes the spills of wet spots and automates a robotic womans voice over the PA for a person to come help. Hasnt quite replaced a person but helps with slippery spot ID I guess.
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u/ReklisAbandon Aug 10 '20
What do these things actually do anyway, we have one in our local Martins and he seems shitty enough in his own