Bot for a heavy duty role

Hercules is one such model, and is used moves goods from inventory to employees for packing, guided by centralised planning software, with algorithms given leeway to take certain actions independently to find the most efficient route.

After an order comes in, Hercules fetches goods from inventory so employees can pack and label them for shipping. If an order involves more than one item, the centralised planner schedules several drives, each carrying one or more products, to arrive one after the other, so the associate can more easily assemble the order. Amazon stores goods on four-sided shelves called pods, which contain randomly sized bins of products. Hercules slides under the pod, which weighs up to 1,000 pounds, lifts it off the ground, and delivers the entire pod to the packing station.

Hercules is a fourth-generation drive designed to navigate structured fields, floors that contain a grid of encoded markers. By reading the markers with its downward facing camera, it can find its position and the location of any pod.

Hercules mounts a forward-facing 3D camera that identifies people, pods, other robots, and obstructions. The robot uses these images to make safe decisions quickly if an issue arises. The drive is also programmed to respond safely if the electricity goes out or the Wi-Fi crashes.

Hercules communicates with other robots and with humans wearing Wi-Fi transmitters called Tech Vests, and can lift up to 1,250 pounds (567kg)

Amazon introduced its first mobile robots to help fulfill customer orders in 2012. From Kiva to fully autonomous mobile robots and other robots in between, see how technology has helped Amazon improve efficiency.

For more information, visit www.amazon.science