Brain Corp, an artificial intelligence (AI) software company creating transformative core technology in robotics, today announced record growth in 2020 as global retailers ramped up their adoption of robotic floor scrubbers and other autonomous solutions in the wake of the global pandemic.
Working through its OEM partners, Brain Corp achieved over a 300% increase in robotic deployments during the year as retailers leaned heavily on cleaning automation to help better manage “a constant state of clean” caused by the ongoing health crisis. As of Jan. 31, 2021, the company and its partners had deployed more than 14,500 BrainOS®-powered robots, representing the world’s largest robotic fleet operating in public indoor spaces (retail and grocery stores, malls, airports, schools and healthcare facilities). Brain Corp also recorded more than an 80% y-o-y increase in monthly subscription revenue for its cloud-connected autonomous services that help operators run the robots.
“Given the rapid adoption rates and strong value proposition, robotic solutions are clearly becoming the new commercial cleaning standard,” said Dr. Eugene Izhikevich, CEO at Brain Corp. “In today’s changing world, businesses are rethinking their automation strategies, bringing robots out from behind locked areas and into public spaces where they bring a new level of process automation. We’ve seen how much support robots have provided essential workers through the pandemic, and look forward to continued innovation with our OEM partners.”
Additional 2020 Brain Corp operational highlights:
- Surpassed a total of 4 million autonomous hours of global operation to date.
- Generated an estimated 3.3 million hours of additional productivity for end customers during the year through its BrainOS-powered robotic fleet.
- Surpassed 54 billion square feet of space covered autonomously to date through its combined robotic applications.
- Launched a new BrainOS-powered robotic scrubber with Tennant Company, the T380AMR solution, which is adept at handling tighter retail store footprints. Schnucks, a leading Midwest grocery chain, recently deployed the T380AMR robotic scrubbers to help improve in-store customer experiences.
- Launched a new BrainOS-powered scrubber with Nilfisk, the Liberty SC60, which is ideal for large indoor spaces like retail, airports, malls, warehouses, and light industrial.
- Announced that Sam’s Club is expanding its investment in BrainOS-powered robotic scrubbers to all of its stores nationwide, while also extending a retail shelf analytics pilot program designed to deliver faster inventory insights and customer experiences. The pilot uses a first-of-its-kind dual function robot design that integrates a data-scanning accessory with a robotic scrubber from Tennant.
- Announced the initial commercial rollout of the BrainOS-powered autonomous delivery tug, a industry first robotic application that helps retailers bridge the automation gap in moving inventory from the stockroom out to store shelves. Brain Corp announced two new OEM partners for the delivery tug, Dane Technologies and Mitsubishi Logisnext Americas.
- Launched new user experience (UX) and reporting features that revolutionize the ease of which AMRs can be used and managed by non-technical employees, speeding deployment at scale and enabling commercial businesses to achieve rapid ROI.
- Recognized as an AMR deployment leader, and a “hot tech innovator,” in two separate reports by ABI Research, a global tech market advisory firm.
- Named a winner of the San Diego Top Workplaces Award 2020 by The San Diego Union-Tribune.
In a recent white paper, “The Business Value of Autonomous Mobile Robots in the Wake of COVID-19,” author Rian Whitton, a senior analyst with ABI Research, noted that Brain Corp is pioneering a new class of “public-facing” autonomous robots that can operate outside of tightly controlled environments, such as traditional manufacturing and warehouse settings, thanks to advanced navigation and technical features. This brings new automation value to commercial businesses and their employees, helping establish a new operational standard for cleaning.
“We have a burgeoning ecosystem of robotics developers, lots of partnerships with original equipment manufacturers like Tennant and Nilfisk, and sufficient buy-in from grocers and retailers like Kroger, Schnucks, and Walmart,” Whitton said in a recent interview. “All the infrastructure is in place for automated commercial cleaning to be mainstreamed in retail.”
Top OEM partners leverage BrainOS, the company’s robotic AI software platform for building and managing commercial robots at scale, to develop an array of robotic applications, including floor scrubbers, vacuums, delivery tugs, and retail shelf-scanning units. Retailers can use these applications for “automating the aisle,” a new approach that uses multiple, vertically focused robotics applications—bound together by a centralized platform—that enables them to more easily adapt to changing consumer buying habits and shifts to e-commerce and digital fulfillment, while also removing long-standing bottlenecks in the retail supply chain.