An orchestra plays Christmas classics such as "Jingle Bells", "Deck the Halls" and "We wish you a merry Christmas" at Bloomingdale's department store in New York. It's up to the visitor to decide which one. Nothing unusual, were it not for the four ABB IRB 1200 robots playing the songs on a series of instruments. How visitors react in front of the shop window is recorded on camera and shown behind the orchestra.

In total, three out of twelve Christmas shop windows at Bloomingdale's are equipped with ABB robots. In the Christmas campaign, ABB and its creative partner andyRobot are demonstrating how robotics and automation solutions can help take visual merchandising to a new level and create a unique shopping experience.

Four IRB 120 industrial robots decorate the Christmas tree

Another display window shows four ABB IRB 120 robots decorating a Christmas tree. Two floor-mounted industrial robots and two ceiling-mounted IRB 120s coordinate their movements to guide 20 golden ornaments past each other and place them on the branches. As soon as the decorations are finished, the four industrial robots take them down again and start the 30-minute performance all over again.

Karaoke is the motto of the third showcase: visitors can choose from a variety of Christmas songs, the lyrics of which are then played on three moving 38-inch displays attached to three IRB-120 robots. The so-called RoboScreens were patented by the artist andyRobot, can be arranged in various formations and bring coordinated 6-axis movements to the video displays. Together they can display a large, continuous video or image or separately display individual, synchronized images that virtually jump from screen to screen. This dynamism arouses the viewer's interest and encourages passers-by to take part in the action, as in this case.

Yumi serves Nespresso coffee

Of course, ABB's Cobot Yumi is also part of the campaign: It is also in action, serving Nespresso coffee to customers. The Cobot takes care of the entire preparation process - from loading the machine with the selected coffee capsule to serving and disposing of the used capsule.

All robots at Bloomingdale's are monitored 24 hours a day by a team at the US robotics site in Auburn Hills, Michigan, with the help of ABB Ability Connected Services. The system analyzes the data transmitted by the robots. This allows ABB technicians to proactively identify and fix potential problems - avoiding unplanned downtime.