More robots are soon going to be deployed at grocery stores around the US, specifically in the Missouri area.
The robot, referred to as Tally, is going to be tasked with stocking responsibilities, assisting customers, and verifying prices. Customers will be able to get their first glimpse of the robot when it gets unveiled at the Schnucks grocery market this month.
The Schnucks market is a chain in the US that has 100 locations located in 5 different states around the US.
The first test is expected to take place at a location in Richmond Heights (seen above), followed by tests at locations in Town and Country and Kirkwood. This is said to be the first time that this sort of technology will be unveiled in the Missouri area.
The company that has been working on the robots, Simbe Robotics, has allegedly claimed that the main objective is for the robots to free up the staff to be able to focus on customer service, rather than stocking tasks that the robot can easily do.
The creators of the machine have also said that the goal is for Tally to take part in a more efficient feedback mechanism for the store.
Tally is marketed as the world's first fully autonomous shelf auditing solution. And if the customers end up liking the robot and the program works well then we can expect they will expand it and more robots will be sent to their many different locations.
The robot, Tally, is said to weigh about 30 lbs and measures 38 inches tall. The robot will be able to roam around the store, similar to a Roomba vacuum, and whenever it is low on power then it will return to a charging station. It's equipped with sensors so that it will be able to navigate safely around the store and won't be knocking into carts and people in the aisles.
This isn't the first time that customers might see Tally roaming around grocery aisles in the US because they've already been deployed at some Target stores in California, as well as some dollar store locations.
Industry experts suggest that Tally will be able to provide more efficient information as far as supply chain intelligence and keeping track of inventory, what has been sold, what is still left for sale on the shelves etc. This is valuable information for store owners to know and if this machine can help them to obtain that data in a more efficient way, then business owners will see value in that and be more likely to adopt Tally into their stores.
Pics:
Schnucks via Stltoday
Google Maps
Simbe Robotics via business insider
Sources:
http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/robot-workers-will-soon-be-roaming-the-aisles-at-schnucks/article_1b5bcb10-84f3-580c-b0f9-6b889cc4ce28.html
http://www.ajc.com/news/national/robot-stockboys-roam-aisles-grocery-store-chain/4Yl1RFJ6IMMXTJIx4SjiGP/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4732828/Friendly-robot-stock-boys-coming-U-S-grocery-stores.html
http://fox2now.com/2017/07/26/robots-workers-to-roam-st-louis-schnucks-stores/
http://www.businessinsider.com/simbe-robotics-creates-autonomous-grocery-store-robot-2015-11