There's something new at the grocery store to help with a cleanup in aisle 4. A wheeled robot named "Marty" is roaming the aisles in 25 Giant, Martin’s and Stop & Shop stores.
Badger Technologies CEO Tim Rowland says its camera-equipped robots stop after detecting a potential spill and alert humans to come do the dirty work. But do they fire a powerful laser at you if they see you sampling seedless grapes in the produce section? No...not yet.
The robots move around using laser-based “lidar” sensors and they stop when shoppers and their carts cross their path. According to Boston.cbslocal.com, a robot observed Tuesday at a Stop & Shop store in Seekonk, Massachusetts, alerted store associates to a price tag that had fallen in one aisle, and a tiny sprig of herbs in another. After moving along for a few minutes, it returned to the scene of each spill and waited until an employee pushed a button to acknowledge that the debris was picked up.
How do you feel about those robotic googly eyes watching you squeeze the melons?