[3] Incorporated in 2018 as a spin-off from Vecna Technologies, the company specializes in automated material handling, hybrid fulfillment and workflow optimization for industrial applications.

[4] In December 2017, the firm won the DHL & Dell Robotics Innovation Challenge for developing the Tote Retrieval System (TRS),[5] an automated guided vehicle (AGV) capable of warehouse navigation and mobile piece-picking from conventional shelves.

[7] According to a December 2017 profile of Theobald by Forbes contributor, Frederick Daso, the company name ‘Vecna’ is derived from the Czech word věčný, fem.

[8] Vecna Technologies focused primarily on health-care software development, while the robotics division engaged in research for the U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force and National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

[30] In March 2018, a fleet of six RT4500 Tuggers were profiled by Cade Metz in The New York Times as new “robotic colleagues” at the FedEx industrial shipping hub in Kernersville, North Carolina.

[31] In this warehouse application, the tuggers pull trains of carts with bulky goods such as car tires or canoes to manage a growing percentage of eCommerce orders for items unable to fit on conveyor belts.