Carter uses Aptiv’s PULSE sensor, which is designed for environments that demand precise detection and involve complex maneuvering. | Source: Robust.AI
Robust.AI this week said it has selected Aptiv PLC’s intelligent perception systems, including AI and machine learning-based sensor fusion powered by the Aptiv PULSE sensor, for its Gen 3 Carter collaborative mobile robot.
For industrial applications, reliability across operating environments such as warehouses, manufacturing floors, and cold storage is critical. These environments are dynamic and frequently contain obstructions, dust, glare, moisture changes, and reflective surfaces that can degrade conventional perception systems, said Aptiv.
By combining the strengths of radar and vision, the company said it enables better decision-making and reliability when operating around people, equipment, and other obstacles.
“Scale adoption of robotics requires safety-critical perception that spans the dynamic conditions experienced in the real world,” stated Jay Bellissimo, the senior vice president of intelligent systems and president of software and services at Aptiv. “By bringing PULSE to the Gen 3 Carter robot, we’re helping enable a more comprehensive and scalable approach to warehouse automation, while supporting a path toward the functional safety requirements increasingly demanded by these applications and the broader market of physical AI.”
Robust.AI designs software-defined automation
Robust.Al’s Carter is a collaborative mobile robot designed to augment existing warehouse operations and workforces. It said Carter’s software-defined functionality allows facilities to automate order-fulfillment picking, point-to-point transport, and mobile sorting without investments in additional infrastructure.
The San Carlos, Calif-based company said its drop-in automation capabilities and performance-based robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) model allow customers to deploy quickly and scale flexibly in response to shifting demand.
“Carter is built to work with people in real warehouse and manufacturing environments, so perception quality, system reliability, and ease of deployment matter enormously,” said Anthony Jules, co-founder and CEO at Robust.AI. “Aptiv’s PULSE sensor brings a differentiated camera-and-radar approach that further enables Carter to drive market-leading performance and productivity in complex environments.”
Submit your session idea for the 2026 RoboBusinessAptiv helps Carter handle dynamic environments
For the Gen 3 Carter, Aptiv fuses radar and vision using machine learning on raw data delivered by its PULSE sensor. Early fusion of sensor inputs enables the Dublin, Ireland-based company to efficiently support depth map creation and occupancy grid population for navigation and functional safety.
In addition, PULSE combines a surround-view camera with ultra-short-range radar for reliable 360-degree sensing while reducing blind spots, cost, and system complexity. Paired with Robust.AI’s vSLAM (visual simultaneous localization and mapping) and AI perception technologies, Aptiv said its system delivers reliable performance for the complex environments for which the Carter robot is designed to operate.
Aptiv demonstrated the PULSE sensor with Carter at Automate in Chicago this week. It also showed supply chain resiliency tools; low- and high-voltage interconnects and high-speed cable assemblies; and edge-to-cloud platforms for AI-powered workloads featuring the VxWorks operating system, Helix virtualization platform, and Wind River cloud platform.
Aptiv said it is expanding its partnership to combine its proven systems with Robust.AI’s robotics expertise and human-centered design. The companies said they plan to accelerate scalable, AI-powered robotic workflows, while also establishing the foundation for Performance Level d, or PL(d), certification across relevant industrial safety use cases.
As part of this next phase of collaboration, Aptiv will obtain PL(d) certification for PULSE across relevant industrial safety use cases. PL(d), part of the ISO 13849-1 standard, is a high-reliability classification used for hazardous robotics applications.
Functional safety certification is paramount as robots operate with higher degrees of autonomy near people and equipment, said Aptiv and Robust.AI. Not only must the devices deliver safe operation in practice, but the must also support recognized safety frameworks, they said.
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