Amazon employees could soon see fleshy green robots come between them and their fellow warehouse workers.
Amazon announced Tuesday that it has developed the first “fully autonomous” warehouse robot called Proteus.
Proteus looks a lot like Amazon’s current warehouse robots. Still, while typical robots have to work in a cage, away from humans, Amazon says Proteus will be able to move freely around the warehouse, avoiding workers in its path.
Amazon writes in its blog that Proteus will initially be used in warehouses that move “GoCarts,” as Amazon refers to the tall cages with wheels containing packages that must be moved around the warehouse.
Amazon did not specify on its blog when exactly Proteus will be deployed in warehouses or what the scope of its use will be.
Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.
Amazon said on its blog that Proteus was designed to improve “the convenience and safety of interactions between technology and people.”
The company has always promoted robots to make warehouse workers safer.
Last year, in an attempt to reduce accidents in the warehouse, Amazon introduced a series of new robots named after Sesame Street and Muppets characters.
Although Amazon is keen to advertise robotics to reduce physical strain on workers, internal data leaked and published by Reveal in 2020 shows that robotic warehouses have higher injury rates than warehouses where robots are not used.
Reveal’s research shows that robotic warehouses have higher productivity than non-robotic warehouses, meaning workers’ physical exertion is higher.
Amazon’s commitment to robots could also be a way to reduce reliance on human labor.
