Walmart Employing Robotic Floor Cleaners

Walmart plans to equip its stores with a fleet of autonomous robotic floor scrubbers that will be linked to a cloud-based reporting system.

The retailer plans to put 360 of the BrainOS technology-driven robots into action by the end of the year, and John Crecelius, Walmart's VP of central operations, said the technology will help its associates complete repetitive tasks "so they can focus on other tasks within their role and spend more time serving customers."

The technology, supplied by San Diego-based Brain Corp., will allow associates to easily map out a route during an initial training run, which the robots will then follow autonomously at the push of a button."We're excited to work with Brain Corp. in supporting our retail operations and providing our associates with a safe and reliable technology," Crecelius said.

Additionally, Eugene Izhikevich, CEO of Brain Corp., said the company's technology allows the robots to "effectively and safely function in complex, crowded environments, ensuring increased productivity and efficiency across applications."