Amazon launches its first fully autonomous warehouse robot Proteus

Amazon has reportedly launched its first fully autonomous mobile robot which is predominately created to transport huge containers across its warehouses. The robot, called the Proteus, is unlike some of the retailer’s earlier robots that it kept isolated in a caged area.

This new bot is claimed to move near human employees safely. Moreover, the Proteus robots reportedly have superior safety, perception, and navigation technologies, with flashing green lights in front while moving around.

Cardinal, a robotic prosthetic arm that can lift and transport goods measuring up to 50 pounds, is one of the many robotic devices the company has revealed to date. The retailing behemoth stated that with help of computer vision technologies, it can pick out and lift certain packages even when they are piled high and top of each other.

It is worth mentioning here, that despite recent rumors indicating that the company may soon face labor shortages, Amazon claims that it is not planning to build robots in place of hiring people. Experts stated replacing people with robots is just a fallacy adding that so may result in a corporation’s loss of business.

In this context, Amazon claimed that all its new robots could potentially help to increase safety. Proteus is expected to minimize the need for employees to manually move large objects since Cardinal operates in specific locations where workers would typically lift and twist heavy parcels.

The company is also in the process to develop a robot that would fetch containers for employees instead of requiring them to bend over or climb to access stuff.

Even Amazon CEO has reportedly promised to take structural action to reduce accident rates at the company's warehouses and has refuted assertions that its workers experience injuries at a rate twice as high as the industry.

Source Credits:

https://www.theverge.com/2022/6/21/23177756/amazon-warehouse-robots-proteus-autonomous-cart-delivery