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Robust.AI this week said that ShipLab will deploy its Carter collaborative mobile robots at ShipLab’s facility in Vista, Calif. ShipLab is a San Diego-area e-commerce fulfillment and third-party logistics provider.
For the deployment, Robust.AI developed a phased model it called “Crawl, Walk, Run.” This allowed ShipLab to validate Carter’s performance at each stage before expanding, with an initial go-live planned for July 2026.
“ShipLab and Robust.AI will track KPIs such as deliveries per hour and distance saved, alongside metrics such as system uptime, order cycle time, picker performance, and system operator utilization, to measure Carter’s impact on the fulfillment workflow,” Jake Brenner, co-founder and CEO of ShipLab, told Automated Warehouse.
Founded in 2019, Robust.AI said it prioritizes safe human-robot collaboration to drive higher productivity across picking, putaway, value-added services, and material handling. Its robots require no infrastructure changes to get working. The San Carlos, Calif.-based company was recognized with a 2025 RBR50 Robotics Innovation Award for Carter’s force-sensitive user interface.
“ShipLab has built a reputation for accountability and speed that the most demanding e-commerce brands rely on. Fulfillment moves fast, and the teams running it need automation that keeps up without getting in the way,” said Anthony Jules, co-founder and CEO of Robust.AI. “The phased approach we designed reflects our shared belief that automation should prove its value before you scale it, and that is precisely what Carter was built to do.”
ShipLab plans to build confidence incrementally
The partnership begins with a pilot in which Carter will automate tote transport between fulfillment and packing stations. Upon successful validation, the deployment will expand to a full fleet of Carter robots. These will operate in a broader set of applications across ShipLab’s picking operation.
The phased approach allows the company to build operational confidence incrementally. Robust,AI said robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) payments are deferred at each phase until performance targets are jointly confirmed.
“The phased ‘Crawl, Walk, Run’ model was central to the decision,” explained Brenner. “It lets ShipLab validate performance at each stage before committing to scale, without disrupting the operation their clients rely on.”
“Beyond the deployment model itself, ShipLab cited the need for quicker tote movement between fulfillment and packing, more capacity to support their growth, and a way to free up their team’s time so pickers can stay focused on picking, all while maintaining their 99.9% accuracy standard and same-day shipping commitments steady,” he said. “Additionally, we saw a lot of flexibility within the Carter platform, where we think it can bring additional value to other workflows.”
More about Robust.AI’s Carter robot
Robust.AI designed its collaborative mobile robot to work alongside warehouse associates. Carter’s software-defined functionality allows operations to evolve and expand from simple applications like point-to-point transport to more sophisticated ones like fully integrated order picking, all using the same fleet, said the company.
“After leveraging the non-integrated approach for a fast deployment, the system will expand into the each pick fulfillment portion of ShipLab’s business,” Brenner said. “Carter’s flexibility and user-centered design enables a seamless transition from one application to the next without any hardware or infrastructure changes. This was a really compelling feature for us, as robotics is new to our warehouse, so the ability to learn how we can best integrate it in all areas is key.”
Carter’s performance-based RaaS model ensures customers only pay once the system is operational and delivering results.
“The team is excited to begin working with Carter. Since the bots are being delivered this week and go-live is scheduled for the 15th, we are still early in the process, but there is a lot of excitement around how Carter can support the team and improve workflow efficiency,” Brenner said. “In fact, the team has already come up with names for them!”