Bossa Nova Robotics today unveiled its latest creation, the 2020, a smaller version of its rover for checking inventory on store shelves. The latest from Bossa Nova is still over six feet tall but is about half a foot thinner to help maneuver store aisles in smaller stores. A company spokesperson called the robot a fit for most properties beyond a convenience store.
The initial Bossa Nova was designed for use in larger stores like supermarkets and did trials in WalMart stores last year.
The 2020 is able to count fresh fruits and vegetables, frozen foods, and apparel.
To do this, 2020 uses a camera that looks down from the top of the robot. Many cameras and sensors used in the previous Bossa Nova robot scanned items at eye level.
2020 can’t do a stock count for fresh fruits and vegetables yet is able to identify gaps in inventory and when supplies are running low.
“Fresh foods and frozen foods were added essentially because of the downward-facing camera, and the multi-depth and multi-focus capabilities with the camera enable the ability to traverse aisles and capture these new areas of the stores [like freezers],” Bossa Nova head of product Vaibhav Vohra told VentureBeat in a phone interview.
The 2020 comes can add sensors based on a stores needs and a stationary RFID sensor on the robot enables the ability to scan apparel like clothing. Bossa Nova acquired the startup Hawxeye to improve its inventory object detection AI.
The company declined to share the price of the 2020 robot.
This summer, VentureBeat named Bossa Nova among inaugural recipients of the AI Innovation Awards.
The company is joined by Simbe Robotics, who in September raised $26 million for its autonomous inventory robot Tally.
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