Robots are 'stealing jobs' from 500,000 Amazon employees.

Sparrow, Cardinal, and Proteus are robots that are gradually replacing human workers in Amazon's warehouses.

Amazon is building robots that can do everything from delivering individual shirts and bottles of soap to neatly packing packages. Amazon executives expect these robots will help the company avoid hiring hundreds of thousands of employees in the coming years.

Amazon's Sparrow robotic arm system. (Source: New York Times)

How did Amazon get started with robots?

In 2012, Amazon acquired Kiva, a robotics manufacturer specializing in small, round robots capable of lifting stacks of goods and delivering them to workers.

Since then, Amazon has categorized all of its operations into six automation categories: movement, handling, sorting, storage, recognition, and packaging. "We want to have world- class capabilities in each of these categories," said Tye Brady, chief engineer at Amazon Robotics, in an interview last fall.

Amazon's approach aims to address a core dilemma in robotics development: creating a robot that can do many things but is difficult to develop, or creating a robot that focuses on a single skill but is more likely to succeed.

Amazon opted for the second option: Hercules to move heavy trolleys, Pegasus to transport and sort packaged orders. In addition, there's a range of robotic arms, Robin and Sparrow, to handle items and packages.

Robots pick up and collect empty baskets for workers. (Photo: Telegraph)

What robots is Amazon using?

A few years ago, Amazon began reviewing how its main warehouses operate. The biggest change was a complete overhaul of how Amazon stores and ships goods.

In the old system, Amazon stored products in towers of cabinets with fabric fronts; workers would reach into the cabinets and search for the desired product.

In the new system called Sequoia, storage compartments are replaced with plastic containers that automatically slide in and out of a frame. Products can move inside these containers. And thanks to computer vision technology, Amazon can look at the containers from above to identify the products. Then, robotic arms move the products using suction cups.

The Sparrow robotic arm will look at the product bin, select the desired product, and place it in another bin. (Image: Tech Crunch)

At Amazon's state-of-the-art warehouse in Shreveport, Louisiana (USA), employees only need to touch products at a few stages, such as taking them out of the shipping box and placing them in a bin. Then, a Sparrow robotic arm will look at the bin, select the desired product, and place it in another bin.

A robotic arm named Robin places the packaged goods onto a smaller robot named Pegasus. This robot then moves the packages down specific chutes depending on where they will be transported. Below the chute, a large, muscular robotic arm named Cardinal retrieves the sealed boxes and loads them onto a trolley.

A turtle-like robot named Proteus will slide under those trolleys and automatically carry the goods to the docks. As it moves around the workers, Proteus's lights form a smile.

In addition, Amazon has other innovations such as packaging robots, air blowers, and labeling machines capable of applying 3,000 labels per hour.

Amazon's Pegasus robotic system specializes in moving heavy objects. (Source: New York Times)

According to the New York Times, Amazon, the second-largest e-commerce company in the United States, is planning to replace more than 500,000 jobs with robots, marking a new turning point in the company's operational strategy.

Currently, Amazon's US workforce has more than tripled since 2018, reaching nearly 1.2 million people. However, the company's automation team predicts that by 2027, Amazon may not need to hire more than 160,000 additional employees, saving approximately $0.30 per product picked, packaged, and shipped.

According to executives, at centers designed for ultra-fast delivery, Amazon is developing warehouses that are virtually unmanned, aiming for 75% automation of operations.

Minh Hoan

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/nhung-robot-cuop-viec-cua-500-000-nhan-su-tai-amazon-ar972710.html