Amazon is about to start testing humanoid robots for package delivery. The goal is for the robots to come out of the Rivian electric delivery vans and bring packages to your door.
Over 20,000 Rivian electric vans are currently used to deliver Amazon packages, and the number is expected to increase to 100,000 by the end of the decade.
For now, humans are driving them and delivering the packages to doors, but humanoid robots may soon handle the latter.
The Information released a new report revealing that Amazon has built a new facility to test humanoid robots in an environment mimicking deliveries in the real world:
As part of the project, Amazon is putting the finishing touches on a “humanoid park,” an indoor obstacle course at one of the company’s San Francisco offices where it will soon test such robots, this person said.
The online retailer reportedly has a Rivian electric delivery van on site to test robots as they come in and out of the van, bringing packages to customers’ doors.
“Amazon hopes humanoid robots will be able to hitch a ride in the back of Amazon’s electric Rivian vans and spring out to deliver packages.”
Amazon plans to test several different humanoid robots, but the report only mentions one from China-based Unitree.
Amazon has extensive experience utilizing autonomous robots in its operations, but this experience is primarily limited to purpose-built robots.
Its experience with humanoid robots is more limited, but the company has used humanoid robots from Agility Robotics:
The big difference is that these robots were used in Amazon’s own warehouses, which are closed environments.
Top comment by K
Between AI and robotics, we’ll all be out of jobs soon enough. 😃
If they don’t turn against and wipe us out (or until they do…), I’m sure our benevolent selfless government will work out a system of Universal Basic Income that is fair and equitable for all. What a wonderful utopia we are headed towards. Surely no growing pains in the meantime to get there. Just a nice smooth transition headed to endless bounty and goodwill among all beings.
This new test program is to test humanoid robots that will go into the real word to deliver packages to customers.
For now, Amazon plans to test them in its obstacle course, but “field trips” in the real world are already being discussed.
While the online retail giant plans to test several different humanoid robots, it is reportedly working on its own software to power them based DeepSeek-VL2, made by a China-based quant fund, and Qwen, made by China-based Alibaba.
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