inVia Robotics deploys 100 piece-picking bots in Rakuten pilot

Warehouse automation startup inVia Robotics Inc. has deployed its mobile piece-picking robots in a Las Vegas fulfillment center operated by Rakuten, the Japanese e-commerce giant, the firm said Tuesday. The pilot program includes 100 picking robots that navigate by using machine vision devices to track long strips of tape affixed to warehouse racks and coded with 3-D bar codes known as "fiducials," inVia said. Each robot includes an autonomous rolling base unit topped with a scissor lift that bears a set of picking arms with vacuum suction cups.

For more information, see www.inviarobotics.com.