Brain Corp. on Tuesday announced its fleet of more than 37,000 autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) has covered more than 250 billion square feet of space globally.
To wrap your mind around that number, consider this: 250 billion square feet is equivalent to the landmass of New York City nearly 30 times, 4.34 million football fields, or 89 million tennis courts. The fleet, developed for inventory management and commercial floor care at warehouses, airports and malls, has topped 19 million hours of autonomous operation.
“This latest milestone is a testament not only to the success of Brain Corp, but to the shift we’re seeing toward automation across sectors,” Brain CEO David Pinn said. “Whether it’s optimizing inventory management or creating cleaner, safer environments, our autonomy solutions are helping organizations tackle their most complex operational challenges.”
As industries grapple with labor shortages, higher customer expectations and the need for operational sustainability, robotic and AI capabilities are increasingly driving productivity, while enhancing both employee and customer experiences.
The scale of its operations has allowed Brain to amass and tap into a library of data via “crowdsourced learning,” the company claims, allowing each robot to log an edge case.
“What makes this so significant isn’t just the enormity of the area our fleet has covered, but the unique volume of data we’re able to learn from as a result. This allows us to consistently optimize our technology and quickly adapt to real-world challenges, which means providing ever-increasing value to our customers,” Brain Chief Technology Officer Jarad Cannon said in a statement.
The rise of autonomous mobile robots, as well as automated guided vehicles (AGVs), are expected to redefine the movement of materials within cavernous warehouses without the need for labor or conveyor systems, reducing costs while at the same time raising scalability within operations. A Who’s Who of companies — among them, Kiva/Amazon Robotics, Rockwell Automation, Zebra Robotics and GreyOrange — are pursuing a $9 billion U.S. market.
Leading the pack besides Brain is Serve Robotics Inc., an autonomous delivery service of so-called Level 4 sidewalk robots for last-mile logistics.
The company’s autonomous fleet navigates urban environments while delivering food and packages at just $1 per delivery, a fraction of human courier costs. Serve plans to roll out 2,000 robots by 2025. The company is backed by Uber Technologies Inc., NVIDIA Corp., Delivery Hero, 7-Eleven Inc. and Magna.
