Giant Food Stores will place robotic assistants at 172 locations, company says

He goes by the name "Marty." Tall, slow-moving and gray, he has big cartoonish eyes that disguise something unique about the newest employee at Giant Food Stores: Marty is deliberate and relentless, and -- unlike his fellow employees -- he has the ability to work a seemingly endless number of hours without pay. Though he doesn't say much, a small message is always plastered to his slender trunk: "This store is monitored by Marty for your safety," it reads. "Marty is an autonomous robot that uses image capturing technology to report spills, debris and other potential hazards to store employees to improve your shopping experience." After a pilot program that kicked off in several Pennsylvania stores this past fall, Giant Food Stores announced Monday that it will place Martys in each of the supermarket chain's 172 stores across Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.