When Digit spends an afternoon unloading boxes from a tractor-trailer in 100-plus-degree heat, co-workers never hear a complaint. Digit, a blue-and-white humanoid robot, was designed to handle the tough, menial and dangerous tasks at warehouses.
The robot’s movements, informed by years of studying how birds walk, include a slight sway in its frame when it is at rest, to dispel the discomforting stillness that bothers humans. It also does not talk, because voice recognition tech is not advanced enough yet.
“Instead of designing the whole warehouse around the robots, we can now build robots that are able to operate on our terms, in our spaces, in our environments,” said Jonathan Hurst, chief technology officer and a founder of Agility Robotics, the firm behind Digit.
Robotics and automation are not new to logistics; conveyor belts, scanners and other innovations have helped automate and accelerate the speed-obsessed industry for decades. But the pace of investment and change — fueled by the pandemic-era e-commerce boom, a tight labor market and a fragile supply chain — has taken off in recent years. Experts say robotics will change how warehouses are operated and designed.
“It’s a golden era we’re entering into,” said Tye Brady, chief technologist of Amazon Robotics. The e-commerce giant, which helped supercharge the industry’s turn toward automation in 2012 with the acquisition of robotics company Kiva Systems, has deployed more than 500,000 robotics units, including Proteus, its first fully autonomous mobile robot.
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