When Amazon acquired Kiva Systems in 2012, other retailers and third-party fulfillment centers panicked. The e-commerce giants took Kiva’s robots off the market, leaving their competitors without an important productivity tool. Lots of newcomers have cropped up to help warehouses keep up with demand since then, but one of the most hotly anticipated robots in this space was under wraps — until today.
Based in Waltham, Mass., 6 River Systems, Inc. is finally making their “collaborative fulfillment system” available for purchase. Founded by former Kiva executives Jerome Dubois and Rylan Hamilton with Mimio’s Christopher Cacioppo, 6RS named its flagship robot Chuck after the Charles River.
Dubois said, “Chuck looks like a pick cart they already use in warehouses. It is autonomous and navigates on its own. And here’s the golden egg, it leads the associate through their work.” In other words, the robots were designed to collaborate alongside humans, not replace them.
Chuck is about 3 feet long, 2 feet wide and stands up to 4 feet tall with a shelf at about 3.5 feet. Height can be adjusted to match what’s comfortable for most workers.
To guide workers to pick items off the shelves quickly, Chuck has an 11-inch touchscreen, which shows them where to find something on a packed,…