New drone-powered system operates without additional infrastructure, increasing productivity and inventory accuracy.
Corvus Robotics has unveiled an updated version of its Corvus One autonomous inventory management system. The latest version brings an innovative feature to lights-out distribution centers, enabling drones to fly and manage inventory without the need for additional infrastructure, such as reflectors, stickers, or beacons. This announcement comes alongside news of the company raising $18 million in Series A and seed funding, with contributions from S2G Ventures and Spero Ventures.
Drone-Powered Inventory in the Dark
The Corvus One system allows drones to safely operate in warehouses without disrupting normal workflows. These lightweight drones move at walking speed, using advanced obstacle detection to avoid collisions with people, forklifts, or other robots. According to Marc Tarpenning, co-founder of Tesla and partner at Spero Ventures, “Other than a landing pad, its drone-powered system requires no infrastructure, is quick and easy to deploy, and cost-effective to manage. It literally merges with the existing warehouse environment.”
AI-Driven Real-World Navigation
One of the key innovations of the Corvus One system is its use of computer vision and generative AI to navigate various warehouse environments. These drones can handle narrow aisles as small as 50 inches wide and read any type of barcode in any orientation. The system runs independently 24/7, providing constant inventory management.
Austin Feagins, senior director of solutions at Staci Americas, highlighted the benefits of the Corvus One system. “The lights-out capability in the Corvus One system allows our inventory teams to correct discrepancies off-shift and pre-shift before production starts each day; limiting fulfillment delays and production impacts.”
Efficiency Gains and Cost Reductions
The Corvus One system promises significant improvements in warehouse operations, including:
- Increased Labor Productivity: By redirecting staff to higher-value tasks like picking and replenishment, Corvus One can deliver a 10x increase in labor productivity and substantial labor cost savings.
- Inventory Accuracy: With 99.9% accuracy in inventory tracking, the system helps reduce stockouts and optimizes space, freeing up to 10% of total pallet racking space.
- Flexible Integration: The Corvus One system works seamlessly with or without a warehouse management system (WMS). Integration can be done using simple data exports in formats like CSV or XLS.
Jackie Wu, co-founder and CEO of Corvus Robotics, emphasized the importance of these advancements: “The Corvus One system is a vital component of end-to-end inventory visibility and optimization. We’re growing extremely quickly, and our recent funding round will be used to help Corvus meet rapidly growing customer adoption while continuing to build products with capabilities nowhere else in the world ever has had.”
Quick Deployment and Growing Demand
Deploying the Corvus One system is straightforward and requires no additional infrastructure like Wi-Fi. Warehouses can have the system up and running in under a week, making it a practical solution for operations looking to boost efficiency quickly.
With customers such as MSI Surfaces, Staci Americas, and Quanta Computer already benefiting from the system, Corvus Robotics is positioned to help warehouses reduce labor costs and improve overall operational efficiency.
For more information about the Corvus One system, visit Corvus Robotics.
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