Robotics technology benefits the customers and employees in many ways. San Jose’s Orchard Supply Hardware, a subsidiary of Lowe’s has brought in the Oshbot robot. About the size of small refrigerator, the talking robot can guide you through the aisles to the item you want. It even uses its 3D camera to determine the make and model of that rusty hinge you brought from home. “There’s no way that every sales associate could know the exact number and location of every single item we sell,” Kyle Nel, the executive director of Lowe’s Innovation Labs, told CNET.com’s Sumi Das. “The robot can do that.”
The 5-foot-tall Linux robot, currently only at work in the San Jose store, runs on two computers. Speech recognition software enables the Oshbot to understand customers. The layout of the store and the inventory are written in the robot’s memory, allowing it to show customers an item on its screen or guide them there.”I think I’m here,” the robot bleeps, as it arrives to its destination. To keep up with any changes in store layout, the Oshbot works the overnight shift. “It navigates by its own at night when no one is here to create a map, and that’s the map it uses for next day,” said Marco Mascorro, the co-founder and CEO of Fellow Robots which developed the robot in partnership with Lowe’s. “In the morning, it knows where products are located. It knows where to go.”
The introduction of the Oshbot at the San Jose store is part of a growing trend where customer service is becoming increasingly automated. Whether it be toll booths or checkout counters, computers are increasingly doing the job of humans. Even Amazon has turned to robots to make its warehouses more efficient. However, there are still things the Oshbot can’t do. It doesn’t offer any advice (or small talk for that matter). And it isn’t multilingual, though that may soon change since it is being programmed to understand Spanish. OSHbot is not meant to replace humans. “We have amazing store associates, but very few speak five languages fluently, right?” Nel said. “If there’s somebody that can speak those five languages fluently, they probably don’t know the real time location of every single object in the store.” One other advantage of robots is they don’t need to sleep. So while the workers are nestled all snug in their beds, the OSHbot here roams the aisles, filling its head. “The robot actually navigates by its own overnight,” said Mascorro. “So it learns when they move, for example, a shelf.” And soon, they hope it’ll scan objects in 3-D, then take you to find one that matches. If OSHbot can’t find the answer, it’ll match you up with someone who can
OSHbot, the robots assist customers to quickly navigate stores by directing them to specific products and providing real-time information about product promotions and inventory. It incorporates scanning technology first developed for the Lowe’s Holoroom home improvement simulator. For example, a customer may bring in a spare part and scan the object using OSHbot’s 3D sensing camera. After scanning and identifying the object, OSHbot will provide product information to the customer and help guide them to its location on store shelves. For store employees, OSHbot will provide an additional layer of support by helping customers with simple questions, enabling more time for them to focus on delivering project expertise. Applications designed to support employees also include real-time inventory management and connecting with employees in other locations to share know-how and answer customer questions.
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