In view of the rapid global growth of online retail, ABB sees great potential for the use of AI robots in the logistics centers of e-commerce companies. According to Statista, global revenues in the e-commerce sector will increase by more than 50 % within the next five years - from 1.7 trillion euros in 2019 to 2.6 trillion euros in 2024. In 2019, ABB launched a competition between 20 leading start-ups specializing in AI. The challenge: to develop solutions for 26 real-life use cases in the areas of packaging and order picking.

The aim was to check whether AI is already mature enough to fully develop the potential of robotics and automation and to find a technology partner to develop a robust AI solution. The solution should be able to independently identify and grasp individual objects of all kinds. The competition was won by the start-up Covariant, founded by AI researchers from the University of California (Berkeley) and the Open AI organization. The start-up's 'Covariant Brain' software is a universal AI that enables robots to recognize and assess their environment and act accordingly. This enables them to perform tasks that are too diverse and complex for conventionally programmed robots. The software developed by Covariant also enables robots to perform 'reinforcement learning': through tests, the robots independently expand the number of items they can grasp.

The first joint solution from ABB and Covariant is already in use at Active Ants. Active Ants is a Dutch provider of fulfillment services for online retailers in Utrecht and part of the bpost Group, Belgium's leading postal operator and parcel and e-commerce logistics service provider.

"The partnership with Covariant is part of our strategy to tap into new growth segments such as warehouse logistics and benefit from the potential of these markets. By equipping our robots with artificial intelligence, we are opening up completely new opportunities and applications for many industries," explains Sami Atiya, member of the ABB Group Executive Board and responsible for the Robotics and Factory Automation business unit.