Amazon and Covariant Partner to Boost AI-Powered Warehouses
In a move that could reshape the landscape of warehouse automation, Amazon has partnered with robotics software firm Covariant to advance its work to incorporate AI into its already extensive robotic systems.
This partnership, which includes the acquisition of key Covariant staff, will give the e-retailer non-exclusive licence to Covariant’s robotic foundation AI models.
“Embedding Covariant’s AI technology into our existing robot fleet will make them more performant and create real-world value for our customers,” Joseph Quinlivan, Vice President of Amazon Fulfilment Technologies & Robotics.
With a particular focus on safety and more adaptable systems at scale, these models are expected to enhance the learning capabilities of Amazon's robotic systems, potentially revolutionising automation across Amazon’s operations.
A history of automation
Amazon has a long history with warehouse automation. The company's journey in this realm began in earnest in 2012 with the acquisition of Kiva Systems, a robotics startup that dramatically improved the efficiency of Amazon's e-commerce operations.
Kiva's innovation involved using squat robots to lift and carry stocked shelves to human pickers, eliminating the need for workers to traverse miles of warehouse space daily.
This acquisition marked the beginning of Amazon's robotic revolution, with its mobile robot fleet expanding from around 10,000 in 2013 to a staggering 750,000 by 2023.
In fact, Amazon currently uses AI and AWS infrastructure to power hundreds of thousands of mobile robots, robotics arms and other automation systems in its operations.
Yet integration of robotics alongside a human workforce is a difficult task to master. Examining 150 Amazon warehouses over four years, a 2020 report found fulfilment centres that have robots report 50% higher injuries than those that don’t.
This can happen for a variety of reasons, from human interference to robot malfunction of a task, like dropping a package and creating an obstruction.
Therefore, scaling such solutions without an upgrade of those systems remains challenging. This is where Covariant's expertise becomes particularly valuable.
AI as an augmenter
Covariant has spent years developing AI algorithms with a more general ability to handle a range of items reliably.
In March, Covariant demonstrated a chat interface for its robot and announced the development of a foundation model for robotic grasping.
This model is designed to become more capable as it is fed more data, a great fit for Amazon's diverse inventory and vast database.
Such a partnership could potentially trigger another revolution in e-commerce automation. Not only could it grow the robotic abilities of one of the world’s largest e-retailers, but because the deal is not part of Covariant being bought outright, case studies learnt from this could be used to help develop automation solutions elsewhere.
The future of warehouse work
As Amazon continues to push the boundaries of warehouse automation, the integration of Covariant's advanced AI models could significantly increase the efficiency and reduce the risks.
How exactly this deal plays out remains to be seen, however what is clear is Amazon’s ambition to increase automation in its warehouses, and how it sees AI as the enabler.
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