Bossa Nova unveils inventory robot for small stores

Bossa Nova Robotics today unveiled its latest creation, the 2020, a smaller version of its rover for checking inventory on store shelves. The latest from Bossa Nova is still over six feet tall but is about half a foot thinner to help maneuver aisles in smaller stores. A company spokesperson called the robot a fit for most properties bigger than a convenience store.

The initial Bossa Nova was designed for use in larger stores, like supermarkets, and did trials in Walmart stores last year.

The 2020 is able to monitor fresh fruits and vegetables and frozen foods.

To do this, a camera looks down from the top of the robot. Many cameras and sensors used in the previous Bossa Nova robot scanned items at eye level.

A stationary RFID sensor on the robot enables the ability to scan apparel like clothing, and additional sensors can be added based on a store’s needs.

2020 can’t do a stock count for fresh fruits and vegetables, but it is able to identify gaps in inventory and when supplies are running low.

“Fresh foods and frozen foods were added essentially because of the downward-facing camera, and the multi-depth and multi-focus capabilities with the camera enable the ability to traverse aisles and capture these new areas of the stores [like freezers],” Bossa Nova head of product Vaibhav Vohra told VentureBeat in a phone interview.

The company declined to share the price of the 2020 robot.

Bossa Nova acquired the startup Hawxeye in 2018 to improve its inventory object detection AI.

This summer, VentureBeat named Bossa Nova one of the inaugural recipients of our AI Innovation Awards.

The company is joined in the robotics space by Simbe Robotics, which in September raised $26 million for its autonomous inventory robot Tally.