https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/27/walmart-is-rolling-out-shelf-scanning-robots-in-stores-but-says-they-wont-replace-people/

Any automation evangelist will tell you that the goal of industrial robotics is to replace work that’s “dull, dirty and dangerous.” As someone who’s worked a fair number of retail gigs, I can tell you that inventory falls squarely into the first category. Walmart employees likely won’t miss out on that bit as the mega-retailer begins rolling out shelf-scanning robots to more than 50 stores across the U.S.

The two-foot tall robots are pretty innocuous looking — they’re basically rolling gray boxes with a large arm up top that sports on-board cameras. The arm scans the shelves, looking for sold out, missing or misplaced items. It’s also able to identify when product is priced incorrectly. That information is then sent to a human coworker, whose job it is to re-stock, re-price or re-order.