How Amazon Warehouse robots work #amazon #tech #science
Amazon is providing a glimpse of the future within many of its fulfillment centers, where humans and robots work harmoniously to get packages to customers on time. Amazon runs 175 fulfillment centers worldwide. In 26 of them, robots and people work together to pick, sort, transport, and store packages. While its true robotic automation has taken over certain duties, such as carrying pods of inventory and transporting pallets through buildings, it's making the lives of associates easier by performing the less desirable, more tedious tasks.

Amazon fulfillment centers are busy places, with packages and people moving around constantly. In centers equipped with robotics, employees now lift and walk less. Robots pick up heavy items to prep them for shipping or for storage. Employees who help pick customer orders are able to easily identify items rather than looking for them on shelves. Products now come directly to employees. It's great to keep employees focused on tasks where high judgment is needed. For example, humans can look at a pallet of maple syrup and understand how best to unpack it. Robots cannot easily detect what kind of liquid is in a container or if it's spilled within its packaging. Humans can easily understand what they're unpacking and then find a way to safely unpack it without causing damage.