What changed
Viam’s BoxBot automates a deceptively awkward step in warehouse returns: opening a taped carton without damaging what is inside. It locates the seam, guides a cutting tool along it and folds the flaps outward.
The system pairs visual servoing for the narrow tape seam with a learned SmolVLA policy for opening the flaps. Viam reports seam alignment within 1–2 mm.
What the demonstration shows
The flap-opening behavior was trained from 125 teleoperated demonstrations collected in roughly five hours. The robot runs on a Jetson Orin Nano, keeping perception and control near the arm.
This is a live prototype being shown at IROS, not proof that every carton shape and packing condition is solved. Box materials, tape placement and damaged packaging can all change the task.
Why it matters
The interesting part is the combination: classical visual control handles precise cutting, while a learned policy handles the more variable motion of opening the flaps.
Real warehouse value comes from closing the loop on an unglamorous task that currently takes human attention, one package at a time.
What to watch
Opening a parcel has two different control problems. The seam is a narrow geometric target that rewards precise camera alignment; the flaps are less predictable because cardboard bends and tape can remain attached. Using different methods for those stages is a practical engineering choice.
Viam has not published a broad success rate across carton types in this announcement, so the demo is best read as a working prototype. The next useful measure would be how often it opens mixed real-return boxes without damaging contents or needing a person to reset it.
Source published 2026-09-22. Coverage is based on the maker’s announcement and demonstration.