Proteus: The wonder robot that moves heavy warehouse carts with effortless ease  

Are you a tech geek who gets excited every time a new technology is launched? Well, here’s an interesting piece of news for you. Recently, tech giant Amazon unveiled their first ever fully-autonomous, warehouse mobile robot named Proteus. Sounds complicated? Don’t worry, we will guide you through this brand-new technology. Read on to know more.  

Meet Proteus 
So far, you have been associating Amazon only with shopping or OTT platform, right? You will be surprised to know that this tech giant has been driving the robotics sector for years now. In fact, over the years, its robotics division called Amazon Robotics has deployed a wide range of robotic drive units. Their latest addition to the field is Proteus.  

According to Amazon, this robot is capable of lifting and transporting their wheeled trolleys which move packages through various warehouse facilities. And guess what! Proteus doesn’t need us, the humans, to perform this heavy-duty task. Now, that’s amazing, right? What’s more, this fully autonomous floor-based robot can operate safely even in the presence of human beings. Proteus moves unhindered, without clashing if there are humans around. In fact, it stops and waits if anyone comes close to it and resumes its journey once the person moves out of range. Amazon will deploy Proteus around their fulfilment and sort centres The goal is simple: to reduce extensive human labour and man hours as much as possible.  

Cardinal: Proteus’ Close Cousin 
Amazon is also planning to deploy a robotic arm called Cardinal, that has the capacity to lift heavy weights up to 50 pounds. This will help in better package sorting, making their shipping process a lot faster. The tech giant is hoping that Proteus and Cardinal together will further their same and next day delivery systems.  

Inspiration Behind Proteus 
Way back in 2019, Amazon had collaborated with Colorado-based autonomous cart company Canvas, and had acquired their autonomous built-in technology called Boulder. It was customised to directly interact with workers on the floor. But they soon developed their own version of Boulder, and named it Proteus. However, Amazon will still continue deploying the services of Boulder. The big differentiator between Proteus and Boulder is the fact that the later can function in a far less-controlled environment.  

Other Robots from Amazon 
Interestingly, Amazon has also come up with Amazon Robotics Identification System, that is identical to an airport scanner. This unique technology will soon remove the need for manual scanning process. Wondering how? Here’s your answer. The scanner has a cutting-edge camera system with 12 frames per second speed, which has the potential to help people do their jobs faster, better and easier with lesser chance of injury.  

Oh, and before we forget, this tech giant is also ready with their Containerized Robot System.  In case you are wondering what will it do, let us tell you that it is an arm-based picking system and a close cousin to Cardinal. Wait, what does it even mean? It is a large, mobile shelf-based system that utilises its arms to retrieve containers and hand them over to people.