After more than two years of development work, Lab0 today officially emerged from stealth mode. The company introduced RoboGlide, a humanoid-inspired system for automating inbound warehouse operations.
“Lab0 is more than a robotics company — it’s a movement to transform logistics,” stated Steve Toebes, CEO of Lab0. “Our RoboGlide system is the first in a suite of flexible, modular solutions designed to work seamlessly together, automating entire facilities and delivering meaningful results for our customers.”
MIT alumnus David McCalib founded Ridgefield, Wash.-based Lab0. He is a robotics pioneer who played a role in integrating Amazon’s acquisition of Kiva Robotics and leading advanced computer-vision projects.
Toebes was a founding innovator at Symbotic and brings decades of experience in delivering robotic systems. Together, McCalib and Toebes have deep robotics and logistics expertise with a focus on simplicity, scalability, and customer success, according to Lab0.
RoboGlide goes from simulation to multiple processes
Pre-packaged, off-the-shelf vision and motion systems were unable to deliver the speed, accuracy, and reliability that customers needed, said Lab0. It created its own systems to meet those demands.
The company said its custom systems are built on artificial intelligence, machine learning, computer vision, and motion planning technologies to address complex, real-world challenges. Not only can they automate end-to-end material flow in distribution centers, but they can also enable safer, more efficient, and cost-effective operations, claimed Lab0.
The technology includes multiple stages of warehouse logistics, from shipping-container unloading to product identification, damage detection, weighing, sorting, palletizing, and wrapping. Lab0 said it integrates them into a unified system.
RoboGlide’s patented dual-arm picking robots, Percept0 vision system, and intelligent decision-making capabilities can streamline the handling of diverse inventory, the company added. The fully autonomous system can unload trailers at a pick rate of more than 900 cases per hour (CPH), compared with 250 to 500 CPH per human worker, it said.
With global robotics talent, NVIDIA’s Isaac Lab and Omniverse technologies, and advanced machine learning, Lab0 said it takes a simulation-first approach to drive AI-powered precision in logistics automation.
“These innovations form a scalable logistics framework that sets a new industry standard in how autonomous logistics should be designed, developed, and integrated,” the company said.
Lab0 takes a customer-centric approach to automation
“Our work begins with listening to our customers’ needs and delivering technology that solves their most pressing problems at scale,” said McCalib. “Everything we build reflects a commitment to real-world impact and tangible results.”
Lab0 said RoboGlide is already deployed at one of the world’s top 10 single-price-point, small-box retailers.
The company’s first customer is a $30 billion small-box retailer that is one of the largest importers of goods into the U.S.. It has already integrated the technology as part of a broader initiative to optimize warehouse operations.
Unlike traditional material-handling systems, Lab0 said it enables easy expansion of automation across distribution networks.
Full solutions and sustainability are priorities
Unlike many automation providers, Lab0 said it does not provide “point solutions.” Instead, the company said it uses its experience in logistics and automation to provide full systems that solve complete problems for customers.
Lab0 added that its “Supply Chain Zero” initiative is intended to eliminate inefficiencies, waste, and redundancies in logistics. Combining AI-driven automation with real-time analytics, this mission supports sustainable and future-proof operations in industrial environments, it said.
As labor shortages, rising costs, and logistics challenges heighten the need for innovation, Lab0 plans to show its industrial humanoid-inspired system at ProMAT 2025 and NVIDIA GTC 2025.