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Shoppers at GIANT Food Stores in Hellertown, Pennsylvania were in for a surprise earlier this week, when Marty, an autonomous mobile robot that works to identify spills or find empty spots on shelves, was spotted wandering the store’s parking lot. Videos of the rogue robot were posted on social media before it was ushered inside by employees.
Marty robots have been at work in all GIANT and MARTIN’S Food Stores since 2019, when the company announced that because of its successful pilot program, Marty would be making its way into 172 stores. The tall, gray robot with googly eyes was developed through a partnership with Badger Technologies, a Jabil subsidiary and retail robot provider.
A GIANT spokesperson told ABC’s WHTM that Marty was just on a fresh-air break during its venture outside of the store.
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Badger Technologies’ robots use high-resolution cameras and rotating LiDAR to navigate stores and constantly map its quickly changing environment. The robots are constantly checking shelves for out-of-stock items, empty shelves or price discrepancies.
Badger Technologies’ line of robots includes its Retail InSpct, InForm and PatrolBot.
The Robot Report reached out to Badger Technologies for comment, but had not heard back as of press time.
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