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MATERIAL HANDLING SOLUTIONS FOR ALLINDUSTRIES
Increased Produc;vity Indoor/Outdoor Use Improves Storage Safer Product Handling
Wireless network provider AT&T is teaming up with a
robotics firm to support ultra-high-bandwidth 5G data for
the autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) that are increasingly wandering the aisles of sporting goods stores and
supermarkets. The combination of
technologies could accelerate retail
automation by allowing the roving
robots to share large amounts of
in-store data and images without
overloading a store’s existing Wi-Fi
network, the companies said. 5G
is the fifth generation of mobile
wireless networking, distinguished
from the current 3G and 4G networks used for today’s smartphones
by offering faster, more reliable
data pipelines that could support
Internet of Things (IoT) connections to machines and
devices in addition to consumers’ sharing of texts, photos,
and the like.
The Dallas-based telecommunications provider will
work with Badger Technologies, a division of Jabil Circuit
Inc., an electronics design and product management com-
pany. Nicholasville, Ky.-based Badger makes robots that
cruise through brick-and-mortar stores, helping retailers
identify out-of-stock, mispriced, or misplaced inventory as
well as store hazards like spills and
breakage.
A growing number of retailers
have recently launched trials of
similar platforms, including Bossa
Nova’s shop-floor robot and Simbe
Robotics Inc.’s “Tally” bot.
The rolling robots, also known
as “advanced mobile data-collec-tion systems,” can improve retailers’
operational efficiencies and customer experiences, vendors say. For
that to happen, though, the robots
rely on powerful networks that allow them to share
large amounts of data. The AT&T Foundry innovation lab’s
tests of 5G connectivity with Badger Technologies’ robots
aim to better enable such network connectivity, the companies said.
AT&T developing 5G data network for rolling retail robots
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