Robust AI builds collaborative mobile robots for warehouses and factories

According to MIT Robotics:

Background and Origins

Robust AI was co-founded in 2019 by Anthony Jules and MIT Professor Emeritus Rodney Brooks, known for his work leading CSAIL and co-founding iRobot and Rethink Robotics. After navigating early pivots prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic, the founders leveraged years of customer interviews to focus on logistics and manufacturing industries that lack full automation.

Technology and Workflows

The company's flagship mobile robot, Carter, resembles a utility cart and is built for fast-changing warehouse environments. It features a force-sensitive handlebar, holonomic wheels, and an AI-powered vision system, allowing humans to easily guide, push, pull, or direct it using gestures. Carter is designed to phase into operations as needed, handling tasks like moving items across large facilities where human workers might otherwise walk up to 30,000 steps a day.

Human-Robot Interaction

Robust AI emphasizes human agency, drawing lessons from past automation failures where rigid robots blocked hospital corridors. By designing the digital system to support rather than disrupt human workflows, the company aims to let humans do what they do best while letting machines handle repetitive physical transport.