Disinfection Robotics in Retail

Another example of robotics addressing problems of today.

Ahold Delhaize’s RBS pilots UV disinfection robots

Ava Robotics technology aids COVID-19 cleaning in two distribution centers

Russell Redman 1 | Jan 08, 2021 

Ahold Delhaize USA’s Retail Business Services (RBS) arm is testing ultraviolet disinfection robots in two distribution centers to support stepped-up cleaning procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic.

From Cambridge, Mass.-based Ava Robotics, the UV disinfection robots are now being used in a pilot at Ahold Delhaize’s affiliated DCs in Schodack, N.Y., and Dunn, N.C. In announcing the initiative on Friday, Ava said Ahold Delhaize is the first grocery retailer to employ the technology .... " 

Cisco's Ava Telepresence Robot

Saw something similar demonstrated at the Cisco smart home innovation center in the late 90s.  Somewhat surprising that this coming for them now, would like to see more. Perhaps the time is now right.  Note 'telepresence', e.g remote human controlled, not autonomous.  Also, Ava was mentioned here before in 2018, see the tag below.

Webex Powered telepresence robot.
Collaboration
Ava: A Virtual Best Friend
Madisen Andersen

The Customer Story blog series highlights how Cisco’s collaboration technology has helped customers solve their business challenges. Learn how Cisco is meeting customers where they are helping them achieve their business goals.

An Easy and Fast Way to Stay Connected with Ava

 Wouldn’t it be great to have a way for patients in hospitals, nursing homes, rehab centers, and other long-term care facilities to stay connected with their loved ones during the current time and beyond? Connected in a way that it seems they are together, in person?  After all, being with family is what helps us get through tough times. Unfortunately, during these recent challenging times, most of these facilities have been forced to close their doors to their patient’s loved ones.  

Strict rules put in place have made it nearly impossible for patients to have any in-person interaction with their families. So how can healthcare facilities enable patients to communicate and connect with their families in a secure, safe, and simple way? 

Fortunately, there is a way: Ava.  Ava is like a friend to everyone in need.    ... "

Telepresence Robotics with Autonomy

Been a while since I  have seen novel telepresence robotics.   Here is an Ava Robotic telepresence system with autonomous navigation.  We experimented with meeting attentendance telepresence.

Ava Robotics Introduces Autonomous Telepresence Robot
Founded by ex-iRobot engineers, this startup is building a remote presence robot powered by sophisticated sensors and autonomous navigation   By Evan Ackerman in IEEE Robotics

Seven years ago, iRobot introduced us to Ava, a sort of tech demonstrator designed to show how robots were capable of doing things like—well, the company wasn’t entirely sure, but telepresence was one of the ideas. The robot’s autonomous navigation was certainly impressive, and Ava could avoid moving obstacles at the speed of a brisk walk, which wasn’t something we’d seen a lot of back in 2011.

In 2012, iRobot announced RP-VITA, a medical telepresence robot based on the Ava platform. And in 2013, iRobot and Cisco collaborated on the Ava 500, a commercial telepresence system with integrated autonomous navigation. We haven’t heard too much about it since then, but today a startup called Ava Robotics is coming out of stealth mode to announce its plans to bring the technology behind Ava to market.

Ava Robotics, based in Cambridge, Mass., was founded by former employees of iRobot, which holds a minority position in the startup. Ava has licensed some key remote presence technology from iRobot and wants to (re?)launch the Ava platform as a “new video collaboration solution that offers users ‘practical teleportation’ with the ability to transform remote work and site visits.” A telepresence robot, in other words.   ... "