ABB and Covariant partner to deploy integrated AI robotic solutions

ABB and Covariant have partnered to bring AI-enabled robotics solutions to the market with a fully automated warehouse order fulfilment solution.

Global revenues in e-commerce are expected to increase by over 50 percent within the next five years, rising from 1.7 trillion Euros in 2019 to 2.6 trillion Euros in 2024, according to Statista.

Due to the accelerating growth globally in the e-commerce sector, ABB identified a need for AI-enabled robotic solutions across logistics and warehousing.

ABB launched a global competition in 2019 to assess 20 leading AI technology start-ups on their approach to solutions for 26 real-world picking, packing and sorting challenges.

The Covariant Brain is a universal AI that allows robots to see and act in the world around them, completing tasks too complex and varied for traditional programmed robots.

Covariant’s software enables robots to engage in reinforcement learning: adapting to new tasks on their own through trial and error and therefore constantly broadening the range of objects they can pick.

Sami Atiya, president of ABB’s robotics and discrete automation business said: “our partnership with Covariant is part of our strategy to expand into new growth sectors such as distribution and e-commerce and to leverage the scaling potential in these fields.

“Through the combination of artificial intelligence with our robots, we are opening an entire new field of opportunities and applications for a variety of industries.”