Robust AI Deploys Carter Robots in Warehouses, Targeting 95% of Factories Still Not Fully Automated
Updated
Updated · MIT News · Nov 13
Robust AI Deploys Carter Robots in Warehouses, Targeting 95% of Factories Still Not Fully Automated
3 articles · Updated · MIT News · Nov 13
Summary
Carter robots are now operating in logistics warehouses and factory floors, where they help workers pick, stock and move items rather than replace them.
Force-sensitive handlebars, AI vision and holonomic wheels let workers redirect the robots with one hand, gestures or a touch screen in fast-changing spaces.
Robust AI says the pitch is flexibility: customers can phase robots into existing operations, including sites where workers may walk 30,000 steps a day and carry loads 400 feet between stations.
The startup shifted into logistics and manufacturing after pandemic-era disinfection plans faded, aiming at the roughly 95% of factories that lack the $50 million to $200 million systems seen in fully automated plants.
Founded in 2019 by Anthony Jules and Rodney Brooks, the company is betting that collaborative robots will succeed by fitting around human workflows instead of obstructing them.