How Amazon deploys collaborative robots
in its operations to benefit employees and
customers
750,000 Amazon robots are doing the heavy lifting for our employees so they can deliver for
customers. With the latest in AI, our technology makes our sites safer and enables employee
upskilling.
Written by Joseph Quinlivan, Vice President Fulfillment Technologies and Robotics at
Amazon
https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/operations/how-amazon-deploys-robots-in-its-oper
ations-facilities
Watch - Amazon_Robots_1 (In the Google Assignment)
June 26, 2023
3 min read
For over a decade, we’ve pioneered technology and robotics in our operations, driving
innovation and growth that directly benefits our employees and customers. The rate of
our innovation has only accelerated, thanks in large part to unprecedented
advancements in AI. Throughout the years, we’ve consistently focused on building safe,
practical, and dependable technology and robotics that optimize our supply chain. We’re
particularly excited about some of the latest collaborative robotics we’ve developed and
announced over the last year. Using the latest in computer vision, and machine learning
our newest industrial robots can operate alongside humans safely and include our first
autonomous mobile robot, Proteus; new robotic handling systems, specifically Cardinal
and Sparrow; and a new approach to inventory management, called Containerized
Storage, which uses robots to deliver products to employees in a more ergonomically
friendly manner.
It’s thrilling for me to see the impact that our technology and robotics teams
have on improving our workplace and helping us deliver better price,
selection, and convenience for customers. Developing collaborative
technology is at the heart of everything our teams do. Technology can serve
its best purpose when it’s human-centric and able to work seamlessly to
support employees as they deliver on our customer promise. By building
technology tools that create a safer and more ergonomic workplace, and
focusing our automation efforts on physically demanding and repetitive tasks,
we can drive the best return on our technology investments. What’s great is
that this technology offers our operations employees the opportunity to work
with innovative tools that enable them to use their talents and learn new skills
to deliver even more value for customers.
In 2022, 1 billion packages, or one-eighth of all the orders we delivered to
customers worldwide, was sorted by Robin, one of Amazon’s robotic handling
systems. We’ve become the world’s largest manufacturer of industrial robots
and have deployed more than 750,000 mobile robots across our worldwide
operations. It’s hard to believe how far we’ve come since the days of testing a
few robots in a corner of one of our facilities.
Testing our technologies in the field
We’re testing our newest robotics systems at a number of sites, building them in a very
practical way and with an approach that is unique to Amazon. This starts with testing a
robot on a small process path at a designated facility, and seeing how new technology
supports and works collaboratively alongside our employees. Once the technology
demonstrates that it works well, we test the same system on another process path at
the same site. We build on this approach to serve more and more facilities across our
operations network. It’s a deliberate approach in which we involve our operations
employees to get real-time feedback and a true understanding of how our new
technology can help us optimize our sites for safety, efficiency, and to better meet our
customer promise. We take every small learning and let that inspire us to think big and
build for the long term.
Proteus and Cardinal
Watch - Amazon_Robots_2 (In the Google Assignment)
Right now, in one of our fulfillment centers near Nashville, Tennessee, we’re
pairing up our Proteus and Cardinal robotics systems to test how they work
together on an outbound dock. We’re having Cardinal load packages that are
all destined to a same zip code into specific carts, a process our team likes to
call ‘playing Tetris’. These packed carts are then driven by Proteus
autonomously to delivery trucks, navigating the open floor of an outbound
dock and operating alongside employees. We have lots of work to do to get
this process humming, but the potential safety benefits make this an incredibly
meaningful project.
Sparrow
In a facility in San Marcos, Texas, Sparrow—our latest robotic handling
system—is already picking and sorting hundreds of thousands of customer
orders, taking on highly repetitive tasks. The latest advances in computer
vision, machine learning, and AI are making possible today what was out of
reach only a few years ago.
Containerized Storage
Watch - Amazon_Robots_3 (In the Google Assignment)
I’m really excited about our testing of Containerized Storage in Houston,
Texas. By reimagining how we can identify, store, and move inventory, we’re
aiming to increase employee safety at our pick and stow workstations while
creating sustainable benefits for businesses that sell their goods on Amazon.
As we optimize these technologies and scale new robotics to more and more
sites across our operations network, we’re proud to see how these
innovations benefit employees and drive efficiencies across our operations so
we can offer better prices, greater selection, and increased convenience for
customers.
