Amazon built an e-commerce empire by automating much of the work needed to move goods and pack orders in its warehouse. There’s still a lot of work for humans in those vast facilities because some of the tasks are too complicated for robot reliable — but a new robot called Sparrow could change the balance Amazon is striking between humans and machines.
Sparrow is designed to pick up items piled up in shelves or crates so they can be packed into order for shipping to customers. It is one of the most difficult tasks in making warehouse robot because there are so many different objects, each with different shape, texture and malleability, which can be stacked one on top of another. messy way. Sparrow takes on that challenge using machine learning and a camera to identify objects piled up in the bin and plan to retrieve an object using a custom gripper with several straws. Amazon demonstrated Sparrow for the first time today at the company’s robotics facility in Massachusetts.
Amazon is currently testing Sparrow at a facility in Texas, where robots are sorting products according to customer orders. The company says Sparrow can handle 65% of the more than 100 million items in its inventory. Tye Brady, chief technician at Amazon Robotics, says the range is the most impressive thing about the robot. “No one has inventory like Amazon,” he said. Sparrow can handle DVDs, socks and stuffing, but still struggles with loose or complicated packaging.
Building machines capable of selecting multiple individual objects with near-human accuracy and speed could change the economics of e-commerce. Several companies make robotics, including Berkshire Grey, Right hand robotand Locator robot, sold systems capable of retrieving items in inventory. Start up Covariant specializes in letting robots learn how to handle items it has never seen at work. But in keeping with the human ability to handle any object reliably and at high speed, still out of reach of the robot. A person can usually pick about 100 items per hour in the warehouse. Brady declined to say how quickly Sparrow can pick up items, saying the robot is always “learning”.
Automating more work inside the warehouse naturally leads to thinking of ghosts of robots replacing humans. Until now, the relationship between robots and workers in the workplace was more complicated. For example, Amazon has grown its workforce even as it has implemented more automation, as its business continues to grow. The company is sensitive to the perception that robots can be detrimental to humans. At today’s event, the company introduced employees who have gone from low-level jobs to higher-level jobs. However, Internal data obtained by Reveal has suggested that Amazon employees at automated facilities are more likely to be injured because of the faster pace of work. The company has stated that robots and other technology make their facilities safer.
When asked about replacing workers, Brady said the role of robots is misunderstood. “I don’t see it as replacing people,” he said. “It’s man and machine working together – not man versus machine – and if I can allow people to focus on higher level tasks, that’s victory.”
In recent years, robots have become significantly more capable, although it can be difficult to distinguish hype from reality. While Elon Musk and others demonstration of future humanoid robots After years of being useful, Amazon has quietly started automating a large portion of its operations. The e-commerce company says it now produces more industrial robots than any other company in the world each year.
The use of industrial robots is growing steadily. In October, the International Federation of Robots reported that companies around the world have installed 517,385 new robots in 2021, up 31% year-on-year and a new record for the industry. Many of the new machines are mobile robots that cycle around factories and warehouses to carry goods or are examples of a relatively new concept of “Collaborative” Robots Designed to be safe when working with people. Amazon this year introduced a collaborative robot of its own called ProteusThe ferry has shelves stacked with products around the warehouse, avoiding human workers as it moves.
At today’s event, Amazon also demonstrated a new delivery method Unmanned aircraft, called the MK30, is capable of carrying loads of up to 5 pounds. Amazon has been testing drone deliveries in Lockeford, California, and College Station, Texas, and says new, more efficient drones will be operational by 2024. The company also introduced a method new electric delivery facility Rivian includes custom safety systems for automatic collision warning and braking, as well as a system called Fleet Edge that collects street view footage and GPS data to improve delivery routing.
