Amazon built an ecommerce empire by automating much of the work needed to move goods and pack orders in its warehouses.
“No one has the inventory that Amazon has,” he says. Sparrow can grasp DVDs, socks, and stuffies, but still struggles with loose or complex packaging.
A number of robotics companies, including Berkshire Grey, Righthand Robotics, and Locus Robotics, already sell systems ...
...capable of picking objects in warehouses. A human can typically pick about 100 items per hour in a warehouse.
The company has claimed that robotics and other technology makes its facilities safer.
“I don’t view it as replacing people,” he said.
“It’s humans and machines working together—not humans versus machines—and if I can allow people to focus on higher level tasks, that’s the win.”
Amazon this year introduced a collaborative robot of its own called Proteus, which ferries shelves stacked with products around a warehouse, avoiding human workers as it goes.
Amazon has been testing drone delivery in Lockeford, California, and College Station, Texas, and says the new, more efficient drone will go into service in 2024.