Amazon is investing in robots to work with humans

One of my favorite robots in the last few years is called Cassie. Slightly more than a pair of two-legged robotic legs, the robot is designed as a robust research and development tool for ground mobility applications. This is a great robot and is a great illustration of a company that is developing a basic technology ready for a useful iteration.

This approach has already been implemented Agility Robotics, a manufacturer of Cassie and more recently commercial robots, designed to work with humans in logistics and warehousing environments, an impressive $ 150 million B-Series that will be used to realize man-robot collaboration in logistics warehouses. Humanoid robots are capable of performing a number of potential storage tasks previously performed by humans and can be deployed flexibly in a variety of environments.

“Unprecedented consumer and corporate demand has created an urgent need for robots to support people in the workplace,” said Damien Shelton, CEO of Agility Robotics. “With this investment, Agility can increase the supply of robots to fulfill roles where there is an unmet need.

In particular, this circle had a stake in Amazon as part of the company recently announced $ 1 billion Industrial Innovation Fund. Agility is one of the fund’s top five recipients, a major investment for a 7-year-old provincial Oregon company founded by two Carnegie Mellon doctors of robotics.

“The goal of the Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund is to support emerging technologies through direct investment designed to stimulate inventions and solve the world’s most difficult problems in customer execution operations, logistics and supply chain solutions,” said Catherine Chen, CEO. Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund. “Agility’s approach to designing mixed work robotics is truly unique and can have a significant wave effect for a wide range of industries, and we hope others follow suit to accelerate innovation in this way.

Agility has evolved rapidly to focus on true commercial robots that work together and side by side with humans in a familiar and non-threatening way. Their robots can easily walk, climb stairs, move in an unstructured environment, carry packages, organize goods and work indoors or outdoors, all of which are skills that were elusive in the development of robotics even before a short time. The company’s robots are already located in the factories and warehouses of leading American logistics companies, as well as Ford Motor Co. and some of the nation’s most elite research institutions, including Ohio and Michigan.

The increase in capital underscores the continuing reliance on automation to increase efficiency, even as the economy becomes increasingly turbulent. Faced with labor market and supply chain difficulties, logistics operations are increasingly relying on automation to fill key gaps, slowly displacing dependence on human workers.

Agility’s state-of-the-art robot will be launched at customer sites later this year. The B Series was led by DCVC and Playground Global.