Robotic shopping carts being developed for Walmart

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is working with Five Elements Robotics to develop a robotic shopping cart that moves autonomously throughout the store, saving customers from pushing a heavy cart around themselves.

Called DASH, the vision-guided robot maps out the most effective route through the store and leads the customer to their items. Customers can transfer their shopping list from their phone or use the display’s search-and-find interface to create a list. Items are automatically scanned as they are placed in the car, and customers can pay right at the cart using a credit card, Apple Pay, or Google Wallet. Additionally, DASH will automatically return to the docking station when shopping is completed.

Wal-Mart is evaluating a prototype in its lab, and providing feedback to Five Elements Robotics, according to Bloomberg, which also points out at the company that made recent significant investments to make it easier to shop in its stores, in order to compete with online retailers like Amazon. This includes developing a way for customers to scan and purchase items on their phones to skip the checkout line, as well as rolling out a service where customers can buy groceries online and have their order delivered at a store to their car.

Additionally, according to the article, the retailer is experimenting with drones as a way to deliver orders and keep tracking of inventory at distribution centers as the company is under pressure to maintain the efficiency edge that has led to it becoming the world’s largest retailer.

View more information on DASH.
View the Bloomberg article.

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