The use of robots in warehouses to ship products or shelves from one location to another is nothing new, but Amazon has now introduced their latest warehouse robot called Amazon Proteus, which is also their first fully autonomous robot.
As the saying goes, autonomous robots that can pick up goods and move on their own is nothing new, but typically these robots are developed with their own movement pathways, and cannot have any obstacles by humans.
However, the autonomous system on this Proteus robot is more advanced where although it has its own programmed path, it also comes with additional sensors that allow it to work alongside other human workers even if it carries heavy goods from one destination to other destinations.
This is aided by a green light that helps the robot to detect movement from other robots or humans, where it will stop if it detects any obstacles in front of it.
Interestingly, Amazon also denies rumors saying that Amazon wants to replace its human workers with these robots. They said the use of these robots was to help their workers reduce the burden of lifting heavy products from one area to another.
These robots have already begun to be used in certain warehouses, and will be expanded to use in other Amazon warehouse locations.