iStock/Thinkstock(BENTONVILLE, Ark.) — Walmart is going to the drones. Specifically, Business Insider reports, the retailer recently held a demonstration of its new drone technology for reporters at a Bentonville, Arkansas distribution center; the devices, it is claimed, will replace inventory quality assurance workers and cut inventory checks that ordinarily take a month to a single day.
According to the article, Walmart is working with the FAA and NASA to develop internally autonomous drone technology which would allow a camera to take 30 images per second over Walmart’s 190 US distribution centers. The camera scans for tracking number matches, empty spaces and mismatches while an employee monitors the drone’s progress via computer. The massive distribution center in Bentonville is 1.2 million square feet.
Walmart’s VP of Emerging Sciences, Shekar Natarajan, tells the trade that the technology is 6 to 9 months from maturation. Because it is still in the early development phase, there is not yet a specific launch plan, but Walmart noted that inventory checkers will be given new jobs.
Walmart also noted that future applications of the drone, as well as other artificial intelligence and virtual reality projects, are in the works at its Emerging Sciences division.
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