Robust.AI Integrates Aptiv’s PULSE Sensor into Gen 3 Carter Mobile Robot for Enhanced Perception
Robust.AI has selected Aptiv PLC’s intelligent perception systems, including the Aptiv PULSE sensor powered by AI and machine learning, for its Gen 3 Carter collaborative mobile robot. The partnership aims to improve reliability in challenging industrial environments such as warehouses, manufacturing floors, and cold storage, where conventional perception systems often struggle with obstructions, dust, glare, moisture, and reflective surfaces.
Why Aptiv PULSE for Industrial Environments
Aptiv’s PULSE sensor combines radar and vision to enable better decision-making and reliability when operating around people, equipment, and obstacles. The company emphasized that dynamic industrial conditions demand perception systems that maintain performance despite environmental variability. By fusing radar and vision data early in the processing pipeline, the system supports depth map creation and occupancy grid population for navigation and functional safety.
Jay Bellissimo, senior vice president of intelligent systems and president of software and services at Aptiv, stated: “Scale adoption of robotics requires safety-critical perception that spans the dynamic conditions experienced in the real world. By bringing PULSE to the Gen 3 Carter robot, we’re helping enable a more comprehensive and scalable approach to warehouse automation, while supporting a path toward the functional safety requirements increasingly demanded by these applications and the broader market of physical AI.”
Robust.AI’s Software-Defined Automation
Robust.AI’s Carter is a collaborative mobile robot designed to augment existing warehouse operations without requiring additional infrastructure. The San Carlos, California-based company uses a software-defined approach to automate order-fulfillment picking, point-to-point transport, and mobile sorting. Its robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) model allows customers to deploy quickly and scale flexibly based on demand.
Anthony Jules, co-founder and CEO of Robust.AI, explained: “Carter is built to work with people in real warehouse and manufacturing environments, so perception quality, system reliability, and ease of deployment matter enormously. Aptiv’s PULSE sensor brings a differentiated camera-and-radar approach that further enables Carter to drive market-leading performance and productivity in complex environments.”
Aptiv’s Sensor Fusion Technology
The PULSE sensor integrates a surround-view camera with ultra-short-range radar, providing 360-degree sensing while reducing blind spots, cost, and system complexity. Paired with Robust.AI’s vSLAM (visual simultaneous localization and mapping) and AI perception technologies, the system delivers reliable performance for the complex environments Carter operates in. Aptiv demonstrated the sensor with Carter at the Automate trade show in Chicago, alongside other supply chain resiliency tools and edge-to-cloud platforms.
Safety Certification and Future Plans
Aptiv and Robust.AI are expanding their partnership to accelerate scalable, AI-powered robotic workflows and establish the foundation for Performance Level d (PL(d)) certification under ISO 13849-1 for relevant industrial safety use cases. PL(d) is a high-reliability classification used for hazardous robotics applications. The companies noted that functional safety certification is critical as robots operate with higher autonomy near people and equipment, requiring both safe operation in practice and support for recognized safety frameworks.
The source for this article is https://www.therobotreport.com/robust-ai-chooses-aptiv-pulse-sensor-for-gen-3-carter-mobile-robot/.