Locus launches 'Array' robot

Locus Robotics has launched Array, a warehouse robot that moves through aisles and picks items without a human walking the shelves. (locusrobotics.com) Locus announced the system on April 13, 2026 at MODEX, describing Array as a fully autonomous fulfillment robot that combines a mobile base, a picking arm, and camera-based perception software. The company said the machine is built to handle picking, transport, putaway, and consolidation in one workflow. (therobotreport.com) On its product page, Locus said Array can reduce labor by up to 90% and keep throughput steady in “high-churn” warehouse environments. The company’s own materials also describe the system as a Robots-to-Goods model, meaning the robot goes to the inventory instead of bringing shelves to a stationary worker. (locusrobotics.com) DHL Supply Chain is the first named user. Locus said its first Array units arrived at a DHL facility in Columbus, Ohio, and trade coverage said DHL is already using the system in live operations. (locusrobotics.com) (automatedwarehouseonline.com) Warehouse robots have usually split the job into parts: one machine moves carts, another system brings goods to a person, and workers still do much of the picking. Array is aimed at combining those steps so fewer people have to walk, lift, hand off totes, or wait for the next task. (therobotreport.com) (locusrobotics.com) That pitch lands at a time when warehouse operators are still trying to manage labor shortages, wage pressure, and demand swings tied to e-commerce and contract logistics. Locus Chief Executive Rick Faulk said those pressures have raised costs while leaving productivity gains harder to find with older systems. (therobotreport.com) Locus is not starting from zero with DHL. In June 2024, the companies said DHL had passed 500 million picks using Locus robots across 35 sites, and Locus said in February 2026 that DHL had reached 1 billion picks on its broader Locus fleet. (group.dhl.com) (locusrobotics.com) The company has been previewing Array since at least early 2025, when it tied the product to “autonomous fulfillment” rather than assisted picking. The April 2026 launch and the first DHL deployment show Locus pushing beyond the cart-following robots that made its name. (locusrobotics.com 1) (locusrobotics.com 2) Locus says Array works inside existing warehouse aisles without the fixed infrastructure used by some older automation systems. If DHL’s Columbus rollout scales, the test for Array will be whether one machine can reliably replace several human handoffs in a live fulfillment operation. (locusrobotics.com) (therobotreport.com)