Corvus Robotics, a provider of autonomous inventory management systems, has officially announced a renewed version of its Corvus One system, which now features an ability to fly its drone-powered system in a lights-out distribution center, and that too, without any added infrastructure like reflectors, stickers, or beacons.
Backed by an $18 million Series A round and seed funding led by S2G Ventures and Spero Ventures, the Corvus One system reportedly leverages computer vision and generative AI to effectively understand its environment. More on the same would reveal how it can seamlessly operate in both very narrow aisles (minimum width of 50 inches), as well as in very wide aisles.
This it is able to do using its fore obstacle detection capabilities, capabilities that make it possible for the technology to fly rather safely at walking speed without disrupting workflow or blocking aisles. The stated obstacle detection aspect also helps this system preventatively ascend to avoid collisions with people, forklifts, or robots, if necessary. Alongside these components, the Corvus One system also has the means to read any barcode symbology in any orientation, placed anywhere on the front of cartons or pallets.
“Being able to run inventory checks 24/7 without operator assistance has been a game changer,” said Austin Feagins, senior director of solutions, Staci Americas. “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.”
Talk about the Corvus One’s benefits on a slightly deeper level, we begin from the promise of a 10-times improvement in labor productivity. You see, by shifting associates to higher-value tasks like picking and replenishment, Corvus One significantly improves operational efficiency. This it does while simultaneously realizing hundreds of thousands of dollars in labor savings.
Next up, we have the technology’s ability to generate better inventory accuracy and space optimization. In essence, banking upon smarter replenishment and more accurate physical inventory (PI) counts, Corvus One does a lot to help the user maximize space utilization, avoid stockouts, and improve KPIs. From a more concrete standpoint, the system ensures 99.9% inventory accuracy, frees up to 10% of total pallet racking space, and at the same time, cuts down on shrinkage and material handling equipment costs.
“Corvus Robotics fits our mission to invest in companies that truly transform the way business is conducted,” said 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.”
Hold on, we are not yet, considering we haven’t touched on Corvus One’s flexible WMS Integration. We get to call it flexible because the technology can work with or without a warehouse management system (WMS). Within that respect, a lite integration is available via CSV or XLS exports.
Alongside WMS, Corvus One can also be used without any Wi-Fi installation. All this goes a long distance to guarantee that one can deploy the technology in no more than a week.
Founded in 2017, Corvus Robotics’ rise up the ranks stems from being the first and only autonomous inventory management system built on an AI world model. As a result, the company is able to put on a display these fully autonomous, infrastructure-free drones that fly without human operators, equipping warehouses and production plants with efficient, accurate inventory management. Corvus’ excellence in what it does can also be understood once you consider the likes of MSI Surfaces, Staci Americas, and Quanta Computer etc currently rely on its “robots as a service” model to quickly respond to changes in demand, reduce labor costs, save hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, and enhance the customer experience.
“At S2G, we seek out disruptive innovations that address evolving industry needs, and we believe Corvus exemplifies this perfectly,” said Arthur Chow, principal at S2G Ventures. “Its technology offers a tangible path to operational excellence by delivering accuracy and productivity gains, all while being easy to implement.”
