Nuked The Proteus robot is meant to move large carts throughout its warehouses. Amazon says it can safely navigate around human employees. The robot is called Proteus.
A video shows the robots shining a green light in front of themselves as they move around. When a human steps into the beam, the robot stops moving, then resumes after the person moves away.
The company has also announced several other robotic systems. One, called cardinal, is a robotic arm that can lift and move packages weighing up to 50 pounds.
Amazon’s post shows off tech that could let employees ditch the hand scanners they use to log barcodes. Workers stand in front of a camera system that recognizes the packages without stopping to scan the label.
The company says it’s not looking to build robots instead of hiring people. The new scanning system especially seems like it could create unrealistic expectations about how fast workers should be moving.
Cardinal operates in places where workers would otherwise lift and twist heavy packages. The company is also working on a robot that would deliver containers to workers rather than have them bend or climb to reach items.
