Amazon Robotics LLC, formerly Kiva Systems, is a Massachusetts-based company that manufactures mobile robotic fulfillment systems. It is a subsidiary of

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevu ...

. Its

automated storage and retrieval system An automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS or AS/RS) consists of a variety of computer-controlled systems for automatically placing and retrieving loads from defined storage locations. Automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS) are ty ...

s have been used in the past by companies including The Gap,

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, Staples,

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, Office Depot, Crate & Barrel,

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and Saks 5th Avenue. Employees of Erstwhile Kiva now only work in Amazon warehouses.

History

After working on the business process team at Webvan, Mick Mountz concluded that the company's downfall was due to the inflexibility of existing material handling systems and the high cost of order fulfillment. These challenges inspired Mountz to develop a method for picking, packing, and shipping orders using a system that could deliver any item to any operator at any time. To achieve his vision, Mountz enlisted the help of Peter Wurman and Raffaello D'Andrea. In 2003, Mountz became the founder and CEO of Kiva Systems, through his partnership with co-founders Wurman and D'Andrea.

Overview

Traditionally, goods are moved around a distribution center using a

conveyor system A conveyor system is a common piece of mechanical handling equipment that moves materials from one location to another. Conveyors are especially useful in applications involving the transport of heavy or bulky materials. Conveyor systems allow ...

or by human-operated machines (such as forklifts). In Kiva's approach, items are stored in portable storage units. When an order is entered into the Kiva

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and a ...

system, the software locates the closest

automated guided vehicle An automated guided vehicle (AGV), different from an autonomous mobile robot (AMR), is a portable robot that follows along marked long lines or wires on the floor, or uses radio waves, vision cameras, magnets, or lasers for navigation. They ar ...

to the item and directs it to retrieve it. The mobile

robots" \n\n\n\n\n\n\nrobots.txt is the filename used for implementing the Robots Exclusion Protocol, a standard used by websites to indicate to visiting web crawlers and other web robots which portions of the website they are allowed to visit.\n\nThe sta ...

navigate around the warehouse by following a series of computerized bar-code stickers on the floor. Each drive unit has a sensor that prevents it from colliding with others. When the drive unit reaches the target location, it slides underneath the pod and lifts it off the ground through a corkscrew action. The robot then carries the pod to the specified human operator to pick up the items. Kiva sold systems based on two different robot models. The smaller model was approximately , high, and capable of lifting . The larger model was capable of carrying a

pallet A pallet (also called a skid) is a flat transport structure, which supports goods in a stable fashion while being lifted by a forklift, a pallet jack, a Loader (equipment), front loader, a Jack (mechanical), jacking device, or an erect cra ...

with loads as heavy as . Both were a distinctive orange color. The maximum velocity of the robots was . The mobile bots were battery-powered and needed to be recharged every hour for five minutes. The system is considered much more efficient and accurate than the traditional method of having human workers traveling around the warehouse locating and picking items. The robot also allows for the enhancement of Amazon cargo movement and aids in the ensurement of safety to both workers, staff, and the packages themselves.

Acquisition by Amazon

In March 2012,

acquired Kiva Systems for US$775 million. At the time, this was Amazon's second-largest acquisition in its history. Since the acquisition by

, Kiva has remained quiet. The company has not announced any new Kiva customers and has stopped its marketing activities. Most of Kiva's sales staff have departed, though the company continues to hire in the engineering and manufacturing departments. Industry observers speculate that Amazon is focusing on internal operations and is not interested in sharing the technology with competitors. In August 2015, the company officially changed its name from Kiva Systems LLC to Amazon Robotics LLC. As of June 2019, Amazon had more than 200,000 robots working in their warehouses. Amazon now (January 2020) has more than 200K robots (they call them "drives") in their warehouses. Cathie Wood in 2023 predicted that by 2030 Amazon warehouses will have more robots than people by adding about 1000 per day should have 1M total in 2024 (next year), instead of linear predicted 800K. Newest warehouses already have more robots than people. Amazon Robotics introduced the robotic tech vest in 2019. In July 2022, Amazon unveiled its first ever autonomous mobile robot (AMR) Proteus.

References

External links

Amazon Robotics
official website
Demonstration video

Exclusive From Gilt Groupe: Flash Sales, Flash Delivery, Apparel Magazine

"Disruptive By Design: Freakin' Cool Robots", Wired Magazine

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20090911111042/http://www.robotspodcast.com/podcast/2008/10/robots-warehouse-robots.html Robots: Warehouse Robots podcast
Staples Robotic Retrievers
by

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{{Robotics Robotics companies of the United States Warehouses Amazon (company) acquisitions

History

Overview

Acquisition by Amazon

See also

References

External links