Robust.AI and O'Neill Logistics announced on July 28, 2026 a partnership under which 24 Carter collaborative mobile robots will go into two of the operator's distribution centers — in Monroe, New Jersey and Savannah, Georgia. Go-live is planned for the fourth quarter of 2026. This is a concrete commercial deployment in logistics, not a demo.
Key takeaways
- 24 Carter robots will go into two O'Neill Logistics centers: Monroe (NJ) and Savannah (GA)
- Operational go-live is planned for Q4 2026
- Carter requires no fixed warehouse infrastructure
- The robot handles order fulfillment picking, point-to-point transport and mobile sorting
- O'Neill is a family-owned 3PL with about 2 million square feet of space
What Carter does
Carter is a collaborative mobile robot (AMR) built to work alongside people on the warehouse floor. Instead of replacing the worker, it carries goods and cuts the distance a person would otherwise walk. Robust.AI describes it as a software-defined platform — the same machine handles order picking, point-to-point transport and mobile sorting, depending on how the operator configures it.
The key trait is no fixed infrastructure. Carter needs no warehouse rebuild, no shuttle racks, no tracks in the floor. That sets it apart from classic goods-to-person?goods-to-person: an automation model where goods are brought to the worker's station — e.g. Amazon's shelving systems systems, where automation means a costly, permanent investment in floor equipment.
At O'Neill, the robots are meant to support system-directed picking and light-directed putting — the typical order-fulfillment operations of retail and e-commerce.
Who is deploying, and why
O'Neill Logistics is a family-owned 3PL?3PL: third-party logistics — a company that runs warehousing, picking and shipping for other brands founded in 2012, running nearly 2 million square feet of distribution space across New Jersey, Georgia and California. It serves apparel, food and beverage, consumer goods, sporting goods and e-commerce brands.
The rationale is practical.
We needed automation that would make our associates more productive without adding complexity to the floor.
Stephen Reilly, Director of Industrial Engineering at O'Neill Logistics.
Robust.AI, founded in 2019, builds warehouse automation around human-robot collaboration rather than full autonomy. Its co-founder and CEO puts the thesis plainly.
Carter is designed to slot into exactly that kind of dynamic, high-velocity environment, delivering productivity gains from day one.
Anthony Jules, Co-founder and CEO of Robust.AI.
The company was also co-founded by Rodney Brooks, a robotics veteran known from iRobot and Rethink Robotics.
How it stacks up against the market
The warehouse-robot market splits roughly into two camps. The first is Amazon-style goods-to-person systems — efficient, but demanding a warehouse rebuild and heavy upfront capital. The second is mobile AMRs that drive around an existing warehouse and work with people.
Carter belongs to the second camp and competes with the likes of Locus Robotics and 6 River Systems. Robust.AI's pitch is flexibility: no fixed infrastructure and one platform for many tasks. Worth noting, the latest, third-generation Carter uses Aptiv's perception system (PULSE), signaling a move toward stronger sensing and awareness of surroundings.
Why it matters
The value of this deployment is not in the robot count — 24 units is pilot-to-production scale, not a fleet in the hundreds. It is in who is taking them, and why. O'Neill is an independent 3PL, not an e-commerce giant with its own robotics division. Firms like it decide whether warehouse automation reaches beyond the largest players.
The no-fixed-infrastructure model lowers the barrier to entry. A 3PL serves many clients with shifting needs and cannot afford to rebuild a floor for one of them. A robot that drives around an existing warehouse and changes tasks by configuration fits that reality better than a rigid goods-to-person system. If the "productivity from day one" promise holds, it will signal that collaborative AMRs have matured into a standard tool for contract logistics — not just a trade-show curiosity.
What's next
- Go-live of the 24 Carter robots in Monroe (NJ) and Savannah (GA) is announced for Q4 2026
- The deployment will build on the third-generation Carter with Aptiv's PULSE perception system announced in June 2026
- The result at O'Neill — real productivity gains — will test whether the no-fixed-infrastructure model scales at independent 3PLs
Sources
- RoboticsTomorrow — Robust.AI Partners with O'Neill Logistics to Deploy 24 Carter Robots Across Two Distribution Centers
- The Manila Times / GlobeNewswire — Robust.AI Partners with O'Neill Logistics to Deploy 24 Carter Robots Across Two Distribution Centers
