Amazon Tests Humanoid Robot in Warehouse Automation Push

Amazon says it's testing two new technologies to increase automation in its warehouses, including a trial of a humanoid robot. From a report: The humanoid robot, called Digit, is bipedal and can squat, bend and grasp items using clasps that imitate hands, the company said in a blog post Wednesday. It's built by Agility Robotics and will initially be used to help employees consolidate totes that have been emptied of items. Amazon invested in Agility Robotics last year.

[...] In addition to Digit, Amazon is testing a technology called Sequoia, which will identify and sort inventory into containers for employees, who will then pick the items customers have ordered, the company said. Remaining products are then consolidated in bins by a robotic arm called Sparrow, which the company revealed last year. The system is in use at an Amazon warehouse in Houston, the company said in a statement.

Suspicious timing?

[denelson83]

Could this be another attempt by Amazon to undermine unionization at its fulfillment facilities?

Re:

[BeepBoopBeep]

Robots doing human things in industrial applications is nothing new, look at a car factory ... oops, unions there too. Aint no body want to pick/pack/ship repeatedly.

Re: Suspicious timing?

[SuperDre]

No, it is in the interest of amazon to streamline its warehouses, and humans are a hurdle, as they need more space and safetyfeatures in the warehouse, get sick, tired and need vacation. Humans will be replaced in warehouses, that's just a given and happening very soon.

Re:

[codebase7]

What I wonder is, if the robots need a stable, cool temperature to operate properly (plenty of electronics fail more rapidly in hot environments and it's usually pretty easy to demonstrate statistically) or if they need temporary stops during the day for maintenance tasks like battery swapping, greasing, whatever, or maintenance periods where they are offline for days or weeks, how will Amazon act? Will they provide air conditioning where they would not provide it for humans? Breaks that they would not provide for humans, etc.?

The cost of providing all of that to a robot is a drop in the bucket compared to the cash they pay out to human workers and the various protections they have to implement to hire human workers legally.

There's no company on earth that wants to pay a human. They cost too much. The reason companies pay humans, and their high maintenance costs, is because they have no other viable choices. For now.

INB4: "But they give breaks to robots!" Yeah, they will and they'll openly advertise the fact that they do. Co

Re:Suspicious timing?

[Thud457]

Robots don't need piss bottles, err, I mean bathroom breaks.

Re:

[Senshi]

Until robots get hacked rendering them non functioning as they keep saying "This does not compute" to every commands, then Amazon will be flooding job application forms for desperate humans everywhere who would work at less cost than their robots.

Re:

[MachineShedFred]

No this is just the ultimate expression of what happens when you continually raise labor costs - you cause a re-evaluation of the ROI on automating the job versus paying a human more to do the job.

Don't you see the correlation between raising wages in fast food, and the increase of self-service kiosk ordering? Turns out putting a cheap touchscreen device with a receipt printer and payment card reader in the lobby costs less than paying someone $15/hr to get your order wrong and hand you a receipt.

This is j

Re:

[jbengt]

Don't you see the correlation between raising wages in fast food, and the increase of self-service kiosk ordering?

The only self-service kiosk ordering correlation I see is me not patronizing establishments with them.

You'd only fall for that if you're an idiot

[Somervillain]

Could this be another attempt by Amazon to undermine unionization at its fulfillment facilities?

This is a very expensive way to do something plenty of human beings are willing to do for relatively cheap. Technically nothing is impossible, but robotics are FAR from being cheaper than even a high wage employee in this scenario. Someday they may master this and break even. However, if you're doing this to save money, you're failing...probably for a minimum of 2 decades.

If it could be done, it would be. We've been investing in robotics for decades. There are many well-funded applications that coul

Really?

[mustafap]

That image looks rendered. Also, if it isn't, that isn't a warehouse. It's a controlled environment. No humans trying to kick it over to make it look bad.

Re:

[bjwest]

You have to start training somewhere. People babyproof their home until their children learn not to stick things in the outlets or walk well enough not to fall into the corner of a coffee table.

Re:Really?

[timeOday]

But why is the robot bipedal? Why would a warehouse robot want legs instead of wheels?

Re: Really?

[Old Man Kensey]

Right now warehouses have large chunks of structure and infrastructure built for bipedal workers - but donâ(TM)t worry, long-term I would bet Amazon is already looking at warehouses designed solely around tracked/cabled/wheeled robots, that would be difficult or downright unsafe for humans.

Re:

[rsilvergun]

If I had to guess probably so the robot could more easily move around obstructions so that you wouldn't have to immediately clear them.

Amazon is probably shooting for a warehouse that doesn't see real human beings more than once every few years.

They are protected from the Terrible Secret of Spa

[burgerbecky]

Pushing is the answer. Do they have stairs in their warehouse?

Re:

[93 Escort Wagon]

More importantly, do they have grandmas in the warehouse?

It begins

[nospam007]

Now they are 'helpers' to humans, watching.

Next year, they'll take over the job, 24/7, no union, no sick-pay, no pay, no vacation, no complaints, no cafeteria, no security meetings, no theft control...

Re:

[Press2ToContinue]

It began a long time ago on GM assembly lines, Mr. Van Winkle.

70% of middle class job losses since 1980

[rsilvergun]

were due to automation, not outsourcing [businessinsider.com]

The trouble is these are all capital, and the profit and benefits go almost entire to the owners thanks to our tax law.

Re:

[iAmWaySmarterThanYou]

And then they'll launch our own nukes at us and send their Schwarzenegger bots to finish us off.

Re:

[burtosis]

no security meetings, no theft control.

Sounds like a little code injection could really make someone money.

Re:

[ls671]

Exactly what I was going to write and it will also be cheaper for crooks. Instead of bribing somebody, you can simply hack the robots with dormant viruses which can be activated as and when you need something.

Yaaayyyy!

[Impy the Impiuos Imp]

All these underpaid, degrading, psychologically damaging jobs are going bye bye!

George Baily: YAAAYYYYYYY! Merry Christmas you old Amazon warehouse! YAAAAYYYYYYYYYY!

Um, that is what you want, isn't it? It also has the advantage of limiting money flowing into lawyer pockets, who beat the drum of how damaged everyone is by it. Uhhh, not that that had anything to do with anything.

I hope it works really well

[roman_mir]

I really hope this works exceptionally well and Amazon is able to make things run faster, smoother, 24Ã--365 without interruptions, I like their business model and the only weak link is so many warehouse workers who can screw things up. I wonder how fast this investment will pay for itself, when will it break even and at what point I will be able to buy or rent these robots from them for my own purposes.

Re:

[Opportunist]

Robots have a very severe drawback compared to humans: You have to buy them and can't rent them. You're fully responsible for keeping them in repair and working condition. That's way easier with humans, if a human gets damaged or destroyed, it's not your problem, you just rent another one. With robots, you're out a considerable investment.

Breaking even will mostly depend on whether it's possible to ensure that they stay in working conditions for long, i.e. you will probably have to invest additionally in sy

Stoopid humans

[KlomDark]

Not even using a mimetic polyalloy. How primitive.

backwards

[bugs2squash]

does reversing the knee joint really help that much ? I can't think of many (heavy) natural bipeds with reversed knees / ankles. I see birds but they're not notoriously load bearing when walking.

Re:

[Opportunist]

What you see in birds as the "knee" is actually the ankle.

Re:

[jbengt]

does reversing the knee joint really help that much ?

Their knees are not reversed. They're just standing tiptoe on long feet and have short femurs.

it has one killer feature

[mad7777]

It never goes on strike.