Black-i Robotics :: AI-Powered Mobile Heavy-Lift Robotic Systems

Black-i Robotics (Black-I Robotics, Inc.) is a U.S.-based robotics company founded in 2008 and headquartered in Tyngsborough, Massachusetts. The company specializes in developing AI-powered mobile heavy-lift robotic systems designed for demanding warehouse, logistics, and manufacturing applications, particularly mixed-case palletizing and heavy material handling. With roots in defense technology (including autonomous systems for the U.S. Department of Defense), Black-i Robotics focuses on practical, cost-effective automation solutions that address labor shortages, reduce workplace injuries, and lower operational costs in supply chain environments.

The company’s flagship innovation is the Fullscope Mobile Heavy Lift Robot Arm (also referred to as Robot Workers). This system integrates a powerful AI-vision-guided robotic arm with a general-purpose autonomous mobile robot (AMR) base. It is specifically engineered to build mixed-case pallets — one of the least automated and most physically demanding tasks in logistics.

Key robot-based products and capabilities:

• Fullscope Autonomous Mobile Heavy Lift Robot: A highly capable system that uses 2D/3D vision, AI path planning, and proprietary grippers to pick and place mixed SKUs weighing up to 130 pounds. It can construct a 1-ton, multi-layer mixed-case pallet with approximately 100 items in about 18 minutes, with near-perfect accuracy. The robot operates autonomously, moves between zones, avoids obstacles, and maintains a safety perimeter that stops operation if humans enter the workspace.
• Mobile Manipulation Platform: Combines heavy payload capacity, 360-degree environmental awareness, and advanced AI to perform complex pick-and-place tasks without requiring expensive fixed infrastructure or major warehouse retrofits. It works with standard pallet racking and can handle heavy, irregular items such as pet food bags (proven in the Chewy robotics challenge, which Black-i won).

The solution is positioned as a practical alternative to general-purpose humanoids, emphasizing task-specific strength, reliability, and cost savings (offsetting up to five workers per 24-hour shift). It is currently being validated by several Fortune 50 companies.