Amazon's New Warehouse Robot Proteus is Unveiled

Robots taking jobs in the warehouses? Not quiet yet.

The Robots are coming, well kinda.

Hey Guys,

Today I’m starting a new column on A.I. Survey called simply Robotics. Today it’s free but usually it will be behind a premium sub.

This column will talk about Robotics and industry robotics including E-commerce robots, deepfakes, drones and facial recognition based ambient computing. Robots, IoT, consumer robotics, etc...

Amazon created so many jobs during the pandemic, to meet incredible demand. However Amazon has not kept up with JD.com or Alibaba in warehouses automation and robotics according to my own research. That hasn’t stopped them from investing in its future.

Automation in delivery (logistics) and warehouse operations is going to become a big deal. Amazon Robotics is headquartered in the greater Boston area, the epicenter of robotics innovation. They say that their diverse team of engineers come from all over the world to design, test, and build our dynamic fleet of robots and mechatronic systems.

Amazon and Walmart are very clear that robots won’t take away human jobs, but that’s mostly PR. After all, they are two of the biggest employers in America, if not the biggest.

In this column on robotics, we aren’t going to just replicate PR, we’re actually going to try and make sense of it. Walmart and Amazon have adopted robots, with mixed success. JD.com are by far the leader in warehouse automation and I actually think Coupang will get fairly good at this, in logistics however Amazon and Alibaba are world-class.

Engadget had a good headline:

Proteus is Amazon's first fully autonomous warehouse robot

Amazon has also introduced a new robotic arm and scanning technology for fulfillment centers.

Warehouse operations is complicated, but it doesn’t have to be. Increased automation will make it more seamless.

On June 3rd, 2022 Walmart said it will open four new fulfillment centers over the next three years that the company says will let it pack and ship online orders more quickly. Walmart has not made much headway vs. Amazon in terms of E-commerce penetration, even after investing $Billions.