Retail robot takes stock, assists customers

Chain Store Age writes.

Developed by researchers at the university's Intel Science and Technology Centre in Embedded Computing, the robot is designed to help keep track of store inventories and assist customers in finding products.

Retail Digital says the robot works via a Kinect sensor, alongside image-processing and machine-learning algorithms.

AndyVision can be instilled with 3D and 2D images of the specific store's layout and individual products, from which it can go about its daily work.

The robot does not crash into anything because of proximity sensors. It scans the shelves to generate a real-time interactive map of the store, which customers can browse via an in-store screen, Phys.Org states.

For employees, the robot checks out all the shelves, looking this way and that, and performs a detailed inventory check, identifying each item on the shelves, and alerting the workers if stock is low or if an item has been misplaced.