Brain Corp fleet tops 50,000 robots worldwide

Brain Corp has pushed its global fleet of BrainOS-powered autonomous mobile robots beyond 50,000 units, as deployment growth accelerated sharply during the first half of 2026 and artificial intelligence began removing one of the biggest manual steps in commercial robot installation.

The San Diego-based robotics technology company recorded a 68% year-on-year rise in global deployments during the six months to June. Its machines logged more than 5.3 million autonomous operating hours, an increase of 24%, while collectively covering more than 3.7 billion square feet across commercial and industrial environments.

The figures reinforce the shift of autonomous mobile robots, or AMRs, from experimental installations towards everyday operational infrastructure. BrainOS-powered systems now operate across six continents in locations including retail stores, warehouses, airports and other large facilities, accumulating more than 25 million hours of autonomous operation overall.

A key element of Brain Corp’s expansion is SelfPath AI, introduced through BrainOS Clean 2.0 for robotic floor-cleaning machines made by Tennant Company. The technology allows robots to generate and optimise their own cleaning paths instead of requiring workers to manually teach fixed routes before autonomous operation can begin.

Traditional BrainOS cleaning deployments relied heavily on a “Teach and Repeat” approach. An operator first drove a machine through the intended cleaning route, after which the robot stored and repeated that path autonomously. Although effective, the method required additional training whenever layouts changed or a different route was needed.

SelfPath AI changes that process by allowing a machine to assess its operating environment, determine an appropriate route and alter the path as conditions change. Obstacles, blocked aisles and changing layouts can trigger dynamic replanning rather than forcing operators to retrain the machine.

Trials across commercial and industrial facilities showed cleaning coverage increasing by 22% compared with routes created through conventional Teach and Repeat methods. Autonomy improved by 55%, while facility deployment was more than three times faster on Tennant’s X4 ROVR and X6 ROVR machines.

The development addresses an important obstacle to wider AMR adoption. While autonomous navigation has advanced considerably, installation, route configuration and continued human intervention can limit the economic case for deploying robots across thousands of changing commercial locations.

BrainOS Clean 2.0 combines automated path generation with improved visual perception and recovery capabilities. Robots can build a more contextual understanding of their surroundings, navigate around unexpected obstacles and recover from disruptions without requiring the level of operator assistance associated with earlier systems.

Tennant has begun extending those capabilities across a broader robotic cleaning portfolio. Its X2 ROVR SCRUB, introduced this year for small and heavily trafficked spaces, uses BrainOS Clean 2.0 and SelfPath AI to operate in corridors and aisles as narrow as about 74 centimetres. An associated docking system can recharge the robot, empty recovered water, refill clean water and dispense cleaning solution, further reducing routine human intervention.

The companies are also applying the technology to larger cleaning machines, illustrating how autonomous navigation software is increasingly becoming a platform rather than a feature tied to a single robot design.

Brain Corp’s fleet growth has been rapid. The company had more than 37,000 robots operating globally in November 2024, when its machines passed 250 billion square feet of cumulative autonomous coverage and 19 million operating hours. The fleet later crossed 40,000 units before moving above 50,000 this year.

That installed base gives Brain Corp access to a large volume of real-world operating data. Commercial environments present substantially different challenges from controlled laboratories, with pedestrians, pallets, merchandise, changing floor layouts and temporary obstructions requiring autonomous systems to make continuous navigation decisions.

The company’s strategy increasingly centres on what the robotics industry describes as physical AI — artificial intelligence applied to machines that perceive and act within physical environments. Brain Corp has expanded research with the University of California San Diego on semantic mapping and contextual intelligence intended to give robots a better understanding of objects and spaces rather than relying solely on geometric navigation.

Retail operations are another growing area. BrainOS technology supports inventory-scanning machines that capture shelf information while travelling through stores, while its partnerships include equipment manufacturers and service providers seeking to use autonomous platforms without developing complete robotics software systems internally.