Amazon has announced its “first fully autonomous mobile robot,” Proteus, which will move large carts of products throughout its warehouses. The company says the robot can safely navigate around human employees, unlike some of its previous robots, which were kept in a separate space.
“first fully autonomous mobile Amazon’s safely robotics where people work. We believe Proteus will change that by remaining intelligent, safe, and collaborative,” the company says.
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Amazon also said that the Proteus robots have “advanced safety, perception and navigation technology.” In a video released by the company, the robots are seen moving through space with a green light flashing in front of them. When a person appears in front of the Proteus robot, it stops moving and then continues moving after the person moves away.
The company also announced several other robotic systems. One, called Cardinal, is a robotic arm that can lift and move packages weighing up to 50 kilograms. Amazon hopes to deploy it in warehouses next year. The company says its computer vision systems allow it to pick and lift individual packages, even if they are in a pile.
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Additionally, Amazon showed off a new technology that could allow employees to ditch the handheld scanners they use to scan barcodes. With the new system, workers can stand in front of a camera system that recognizes packages without stopping to scan the label. There aren't many details about exactly how this technology.
All of this sounds great, as these technologies seem to make Amazon employees’ jobs easier. But as is often the case with new robot technology , there are some labor concerns . The company says it doesn’t want to build robots instead of hiring people . A head of Amazon’s robotics division told Forbes that “ replacing people with machines is just a fallacy ” that could lead to the company going out of business. However, robots could create new work rhythms that humans can’t easily keep up with. The new scanning system seems like it could create unrealistic expectations about how fast workers should move .
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For its part, Amazon claims that all of its new robots, including Proteus, could actually help improve safety. Cardinal could be considered very useful. Without it, employees have to lift a lot of heavy packages, which can easily lead to injuries. As for the Proteus robot, it will allow employees in Amazon warehouses to not have to manually move heavy carts with items.
Source: www.theverge.com
