Why Is This Robot Following Me All Over Central Jersey and What Does It Do?
Its name is “Marty.” Marty is a robot in Stop and Shop stores throughout Central Jersey, but why? As this very intimidating machine has been roaming supermarkets throughout Central Jersey, he always seems to be in the aisle I’m in. I thought, “why does this droid thing always show up where I am?” Then I realized that its not finding me, I’m finding IT! It only moves about 1 mile per hour, but chances are that I’ll need something from the aisle its roaming. So00 what does it do?
Marty, like a Roomba or auto mower slowly and carefully rolls around the store equipped with a navigation system, camera and sensors, and
searches for misplaced items and spills. It then beeps and pages human members of the staff when an issue is discovered. It also detects dangerous obstacles. (like itself?)
So next time you go shopping and see Marty, take the time to say “domo arigato misuta Robotto, domo domo” and let it know how much you appreciate the work it does to keep your favorite store safe and clean. Marty will respond by looking lovingly at you with its big, googly eyes and say, “caution, hazard detected!”
(Photo by David L. Ryan)
Thank you very much, Mr. Roboto!
Your produce pal,
Joel
