Ikea’s stock-counting warehouse drones will fly alongside staff within the US

Ikea has launched an improve to its stock-counting drone system — and now it’s coming to the US, too. The Swedish furnishings chain introduced that the autonomous drones will quickly function alongside staff in its Perryville, Maryland, distribution middle, the place Ikea began set up this summer time.

The Verity-branded drones additionally include a brand new AI-powered system that permits them to fly round warehouses 24/7. Which means they’ll now function alongside human staff, serving to to depend stock in addition to determine if one thing’s within the improper spot. Beforehand, the drones solely flew throughout nonoperational hours.

Parag Parekh, the chief digital officer for Ikea retail, says within the press launch that flights are prescheduled and that the drones use a “customized indoor positioning system to navigate larger ranges of storage places.” In addition they have an impediment detection system that permits them to reroute their paths to keep away from collisions. Ikea can be engaged on a number of upgrades for the drones, together with the flexibility to examine unit hundreds and racks.

Thus far, Ikea’s fleet consists of greater than 250 drones working throughout 73 warehouses in 9 international locations. Ikea first launched its drone system in partnership with Verity in 2021 and expanded it to extra places all through Europe final yr. Now, Ikea plans on bringing its AI-upgraded drones to extra distribution facilities in Europe and North America, which the corporate says will assist “scale back the ergonomic pressure on [human] co-workers, permitting them to deal with lighter and extra attention-grabbing duties.”