In Amazon’s smart fulfilment centre in Nashville, US, ‘Proteus’ is hard at work. With holiday shopping volumes surging ahead of Thanksgiving and Christmas, Amazon’s first fully autonomous mobile robot chugs alongside human co-workers, moving carts filled with packages and orders.

Udit Madan, VP of Amazon Worldwide Operations, remarked, “In the early 2000s we went from two to 50 fulfilment centres, and by 2006 as we launched fulfilment by Amazon, our selection was growing exponentially. We realised that we’d have to reinvent the warehouse. We worked on a lot of traditional automation solutions, but really, 2012 was our turning point. We acquired Kiva Systems and ushered in a new age of robotics-assisted fulfilment. Miles of walking was replaced with a goods-to-person solution where mobile robots brought inventory directly to employees.”

With a distinctive bright green colour and a ‘friendly’ demeanour, ‘Proteus’ can navigate effortlessly within its work area and has the ability to detect and avoid obstacles, enabling it to work safely beyond the fenced areas where its robotic peers must stay. Named after one of the moons of Neptune, ‘Proteus’ is part of Amazon’s fleet of warehouse robots, including Cardinal, Robin, Sparrow, and others.

At the ‘Delivering the Future 2024’ event in Nashville, Amazon spotlighted its next generation of fulfilment centres powered by advanced AI and cutting-edge robotics.

Udit Madan also noted, “To understand how transformative AI and robotics have been in how we operate, I thought I’d start with a little bit of history. After we first started selling books in 1995, it took us a few years to launch our first fulfilment centre. At that time, everything in our building was manual. In the early 2000s we went from two to 50 fulfilment centres, and by 2006, as we launched fulfilment by Amazon, our selection was growing exponentially.”

Amazon believes that having robots working alongside employees not only makes processes more efficient but also creates new career opportunities in robotics maintenance, a skill that is bound to be in high demand in the future.

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