A Day in the Life of a Kiva Robot

Complete Premium video at: http://fora.tv/conference/wired_business_conference_2011

Kiva Systems founder and CEO Mick Mountz narrates a play-by-play video of how Kiva robots automate a warehouse environment.

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How Robots Think: Why Artificial Intelligence Is Nothing Like the Human Mind

Mick Mountz, Founder & CEO, Kiva Systems
in conversation with Jason Tanz

Mick Mountz is founder and CEO of Kiva Systems. Mountz founded Kiva Systems in 2003, after experiencing the inadequacy of existing material-handling technologies for ecommerce at the grocery delivery startup Webvan. Kiva's integrated order-fulfillment solution employs hundreds of mobile robots and distributed intelligence to enable faster, more flexible ecommerce distribution centers for companies like The Gap, Saks Fifth Avenue, Diapers.com, Staples, Walgreens, and Crate and Barrel. Under Mountz's leadership, Kiva was ranked sixth on the 2009 Inc. 500 list of the fastest growing private companies in the US.

Before joining Webvan, Mountz spent three years as a product manager at Apple Computer, where he helped move new technologies like FireWire, DVD, Fast Ethernet, and 3D graphics acceleration into the standard desktop platform.

He began his career as a mechanical and manufacturing engineer at Motorola. In 2008, Mountz received an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the New England region. He holds twelve U.S. technology patents.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• warehouse
• factory
• industrial
• robot
• robots
• robotic
• workforce
• labor
• computers
• computerized
• jobs
• workers
• industry
• inventory
• supply
• chain
• system
• storage
• programming
• technology
• demo
• demonstration
• foratv
• fora.tv
• fora
• tv
• wired
• business
• conference
• Mick
• Mountz
• Kiva
• Systems

[conveyor1138]

I very much believe technology in 30 years will blow your mind, lets hope we can make it there...

[zassounotsukushi]

This is very impressive. I'm curious how close sites like Amazon and Buy.com are to this method.

Really, it's mind-blowing because we are watching an industry in this video that is almost entirely capital in nature (robots), with a fairly marginal contribution from human labor. This is getting close to the critical mass that futurists have talked about forever where the economy is predominantly automated.

I just want to take a moment and appreciate the robot city.

[pcmac100]

there goes m job

[jehcrazyjehcmy]

Good bye 2.4 million jobs

[jorluiseptor]

We should use this technology to solve vehicle traffic problems.

[chungadaddy]

@Ultra4 But I totally agree with your last comment. You speak of a gradual shift. I totally agree with that. You also speak that it will be unavoidable. Absolutely. That is why I said that development has to accompany social development. My problem is that there are people who can't to anything else but use their hands. There are 2 examples that I had contact with. If you'd like you can google and tell me your opinion: NPD (Germany) and FPÖ (Austria).

[MoveToBike]

@Ultra4 But you know that no one wont give you money for free.

[Ultra4]

@MoveToBike In the day machines do all the work and the last job is lost, we will either be in paradise or in a world of overlords and beggars. It's up to us to choose how to rearrange society. Basically a bloody competition or a step into a world view of cooperation because machines work for us, scarcity can (and would be) eliminated, we are free to enjoy life, and be scientists and creators of innovation, human minds work like neurons, when we ally we are greater than the sum of the parts

[Ultra4]

@chungadaddy i didn't meant to sound aggressive, and the utopian label is quite common. Imagine in the dark ages a guy would say "one day the people will choose their king amongst themselves", would sound just plain stupid (and get you killed), all I say is there is a path that is quite unavoidable, machines are cheaper than labor, employees will gradually be replaced, the jobs are not coming back. We can either make room for that notion, or fight it. One of them is a lost cause

[MoveToBike]

The robot workers are great for big corperations, but it's bad for us, regular people. Robots will advance further and further, and they'll replace many workers. The prices for items will drop, thanks for thje cheap workforce, but many people will be unemployed...

[4ta2r]

@conveyor1138 in 30 years, advances in robotics WILL ACTUALLY LET TECHNOLOGY BLOW YOU.

[chungadaddy]

@Ultra4 I... don't know what to say. Your answer annoyed me to be franc especially because of the aggressive tone. I don't even know your age range so all I can say is go for whatever you perceive as being the future. I will again emphasize on what I said which is not all are suited for higher knowledge. That is a fact not an assumption. Your utopia, like all utopias, are impossible for a lot of reasons. But even taking you seriously to get to the future you must solve the problems of today.