Robots in Silicon Valley

After a pilot project, which was started two years ago, Lowe's is now extending the use of robots across the shop floor. This autumn, the US-based DIY retailer introduces the system it has called LoweBot in eleven Lowe's stores throughout the San Francisco Bay area. Following a successful robotics test of OSHbot at one of the company's Orchard Supply Hardware stores, LoweBot will roll out in phases over a seven-month period, beginning in September in Silicon Valley, specifically in San Jose, CA.
"For nearly two years, we've studied how robots in our San Jose Orchard Supply Hardware store can help customers more effectively navigate the store to find products and assist employees with inventory scanning," says Kyle Nel, executive director of Lowe's Innovation Labs, the company's disruptive innovation hub. "Now, we are taking those learnings and applying them to a focused group of Lowe's stores to see how the technology supports a broader customer and employee base."
LoweBot isn't intended to replace consultants, but merely add a layer of support to amplify the advice of Lowe's employees as it helps customers with simple questions, enabling more time for employees to focus on delivering project expertise and personalized service. Having the ability to scan inventory and capture real-time data with LoweBot will also help detect patterns or gaps that will ultimately influence business decisions, according to expectations on the use of these robots.

LoweBot, a NAVii autonomous retail service robot, was developed through a partnership between Lowe's Innovation Labs and Fellow Robots, the same Silicon Valley technology company specializing in the design and development of autonomous service robots that worked on the OSHbot pilot. The partnership was initiated through SU Labs, a Singularity University program that connects corporate innovation teams with startups and other organizations to explore exponentially accelerating technologies and create new sustainable business solutions.
The world's second largest DIY retailer launched Lowe's Innovation Labs in 2014 to explore ways to meet the changing expectations of the customer today while evolving the company's capabilities to better serve customers in the future. Intelligent help is just one…