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Amazon Robotics

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Amazon Robotics LLC
Formerly
Kiva Systems (2003–2015)
TypeSubsidiary
Founded2003; 23 years ago (2003)
HeadquartersUnited States
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
ParentAmazon (2012–present)
Websiteamazon.jobs/amazon-robotics

Amazon Robotics LLC, formerly Kiva Systems, is a Massachusetts-based company that designs and manufactures mobile robotic fulfillment systems.[1][2] It has been a subsidiary of Amazon since 2012.[3] Before the acquisition, its systems were used by companies including Gap, Walgreens, Staples, Gilt Groupe, Office Depot, Crate & Barrel, Saks Fifth Avenue and Amazon.[4][5][6]

History

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Kiva Systems grew out of Mick Mountz's experience at the online grocer Webvan, where he worked on distribution around 2000. High order fulfillment costs were a major factor in Webvan's bankruptcy in 2001, and Mountz attributed the company's failure to inflexible material handling systems, which were built to move pallets and cases rather than individual orders.[7][8] In response, Kiva later developed a system in which shelves of inventory were brought to stationary workers, instead of workers walking to the shelves.[9]

Raffaello D'Andrea, a specialist in automatic control, and Peter Wurman, a computer scientist at North Carolina State University, joined Mountz, and the three founded the company as Distrobot in 2003.[9] It was renamed Kiva Systems in 2005, with Mountz as chief executive and Wurman and D'Andrea as co-chief technology officers.[7] The company was originally based in Woburn, Massachusetts.[9]

Overview

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Traditionally, goods are moved around a distribution center using a conveyor system 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 system, the software locates the closest automated guided vehicle to the item and directs it to retrieve it. The mobile robots 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.[10]

Kiva sold systems based on two different robot models. The smaller model was approximately 2 by 2.5 feet (0.61 by 0.76 m), 18 inches (460 mm) high, and capable of lifting 1,000 pounds (450 kg). The larger model was capable of carrying a pallet with loads as heavy as 3,000 pounds (1,400 kg).[11] Both were a distinctive orange color. The maximum velocity of the robots was 1.3 metres per second (4.3 ft/s).[12] The mobile bots were battery-powered and needed to be recharged every hour for five minutes.

Acquisition by Amazon

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An Amazon warehouse robot

In March 2012, Amazon.com acquired Kiva Systems for US$775 million. At the time, this was Amazon's second-largest acquisition in its history.[13]

Since the acquisition by Amazon, Kiva has remained quiet. The company has not announced any new Kiva customers and has stopped its marketing activities.[14] 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.[13]

In August 2015, the company officially changed its name from Kiva Systems LLC to Amazon Robotics LLC.[15][16]

As of June 2019, Amazon had more than 200,000 robots working in their warehouses.[17] Amazon now (January 2020) has more than 200K robots (they call them "drives") in their warehouses.[18][19] In 2023, investor Cathie Wood predicted that Amazon warehouses would have more robots than human workers by 2030.[20] Newest warehouses already have more robots than people.[21] Amazon Robotics introduced the robotic tech vest in 2019.[22]

In July 2022, Amazon unveiled its first ever autonomous mobile robot (AMR) Proteus.[23]

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ "Amazon opens robotics facility in Massachusetts". FreightWaves. October 2021. Retrieved October 13, 2026.
  2. ↑ "Amazon Robotics opens new facility in Westborough". Spectrum News 1. October 21, 2021. Retrieved October 13, 2026.
  3. ↑ Rao, Leena (March 19, 2012). "Amazon Acquires Robot-Coordinated Order Fulfillment Company Kiva Systems For $775 Million In Cash". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 13, 2026.
  4. ↑ "Amazon buys army of robots". CNNMoney. March 20, 2012. Retrieved October 13, 2026.
  5. ↑ Kopytoff, Verne (July 20, 2012). "In Warehouses, Kiva's Robots Do the Heavy Lifting". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved October 13, 2026.
  6. ↑ "Walgreens Improves Distribution Center Operations". Consumer Goods Technology. November 28, 2007. Retrieved October 13, 2026.
  7. 1 2 "Kiva Systems founders to be inducted into Logistics Hall of Fame". Automated Warehouse. Retrieved October 13, 2026.
  8. ↑ "Mick Mountz '87". MIT Technology Review. August 21, 2013. Retrieved October 13, 2026.
  9. 1 2 3 Roush, Wade (2008). "Kiva's Robots Hit Their Stride...er, Slide". Xconomy. Retrieved October 13, 2026.
  10. ↑ Giacaglia, Giuliano (May 29, 2019). "Robots in the Industry". Medium. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  11. ↑ Steiner, Christopher (March 16, 2009). "Bot-In-Time Delivery — Forbes.com".
  12. ↑ "Three Engineers, Hundreds of Robots, One Warehouse — IEEE Spectrum". Archived from the original on September 17, 2016. Retrieved September 4, 2009.
  13. 1 2 "Will Amazon-owned robot maker sell to e-tailer's rivals? – The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com.
  14. ↑ SCDigest Editorial Staff (March 31, 2014). "Supply Chain News: Amazon will not Make Kiva Systems Available to General Market for at Least Two Years". Supply Chain Digest.
  15. ↑ "Amazon Robotics". Archived from the original on September 9, 2016. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  16. ↑ Ames, Ben (April 26, 2015). "Kiva Systems to be renamed Amazon Robotics". DC Velocity.
  17. ↑ Holley, Peter (June 7, 2019). "Amazon's one-day delivery service depends on the work of thousands of robots". Washington Post. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  18. ↑ Edwards, David (January 21, 2020). "Amazon now has 200,000 robots working in its warehouses". Robotics & Automation News.
  19. ↑ "Look back on 10 years of Amazon robotics". About Amazon. June 21, 2022.
  20. ↑ Pound, Jesse (February 1, 2023). "Robots could surpass workers at Amazon by 2030, Cathie Wood says". CNBC.
  21. ↑ DiStefano, Joseph N. (October 17, 2021). "Inside Amazon's largest warehouse — where you'll find more robots than people". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
  22. ↑ "Amazon-Mitarbeiter erhalten "Roboter-Schutzwesten"". DER STANDARD (in Austrian German). Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  23. ↑ Wessling, Brianna (August 31, 2022). "How Amazon developed precision autonomy for Proteus". The Robot Report. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
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