Wednesday 22 June 2022 02:17 PM Meet Proteus: Amazon unveils autonomous robot designed to move large carts ... trends now
For the last decade, Amazon has been building an army of robot employees to sort packages and move products safely around its warehouses.
Now the company has unveiled its latest robot called Proteus, which it describes as its 'first fully autonomous mobile robot'.
Proteus is designed to work alongside humans, moving large trolleys full of packages around the warehouse floor.
The robot uses Amazon's own safety, perception, and navigation technology to move around autonomously and avoid bumping into human workers.
'Historically, it's been difficult to safely incorporate robotics in the same physical space as people,' the company said in a blog post.
'We believe Proteus will change that while remaining smart, safe, and collaborative.'
Proteus is designed to work alongside humans, moving large trolleys full of packages around the warehouse floor
In a video of the new robot, Proteus can be seen sliding under one of Amazon's 'GoCarts' – the non-automated trolleys used to move packages through the company's warehouses.
A panel in the centre of the robot lifts up, raising the GoCart a couple of inches off the floor.
Proteus then begins its autonomous journey through the warehouse, using technology similar to that used in driverless cars to navigate through aisles and avoid obstacles.
It emits a green beam ahead of it while it moves, and it stops if a human worker steps in front of the beam.
When it reaches its destination, the central panel drops down and the robot slides out and moves to the next GoCart.
'The robot was built to be automatically directed to perform its work and move around employees – meaning it has no need to be confined to restricted areas,' Amazon said.
'It can operate in a manner that augments simple, safe interaction between technology and people – opening up a broader range of possible uses to help our employees.'
Amazon describes Proteus as its 'first fully autonomous mobile robot'
The robot uses Amazon's own safety, perception, and navigation technology to move around autonomously
Proteus emits a green beam ahead of it while it moves, and it stops if a human worker steps in front of the beam
Proteus will initially be deployed in the outbound GoCart handling areas in Amazon's fulfilment centres and sort centres.
The company said its vision is to automate GoCart handling throughout the network, reducing the need for people to manually move heavy objects, and instead allowing them to 'focus on more rewarding work'.
Amazon also unveiled another new robot called Cardinal, which is designed to reduce the risk of employee injuries by handling tasks that require lifting and turning of large or heavy packages.
Cardinal uses artificial intelligence (AI) and computer vision to select a package from a pile, lift it, read the label, and place it in a GoCart to send the package on the next step of its journey.
'With Cardinal, package sorting happens earlier in the shipping process, resulting in faster process time in the facility,' Amazon said.
'Amazon shipping operations run more smoothly because Cardinal converts batch-based manual work into continuous, automated work.'
The company is currently testing a prototype that's able to lift boxes up to 50 pounds (22.7kg) and expects to deploy the robotic arm to fulfilment centres by next year.
The use of robots in Amazon warehouses dates back to 2012, when the retail giant acquired a robotics company called Kiva for $775 million.
Although the company
