Dive Brief:
- Amazon is deploying a new mobile robot named Titan to carry heavy products across its fulfillment centers, the company announced Tuesday.
- A fulfillment center in San Antonio, Texas, is the first to use the robot in its operations. Titan, which uses technologies from other Amazon mobile robots like Xanthus’ computer vision and Hercules’ battery and charging management, can lift up to 2,500 pounds.
- "With all that strength, Titan’s first task will be to carry larger, bulkier items like small household appliances or pallets of pet food and gardening equipment," Amazon said. The company manufactures Titan and other robots at its innovation hub in Massachusetts.
Dive Insight:
Titan is part of the wave of new warehouse technologies Amazon is deploying to advance automation efforts in its fulfillment network. The company says this will help make its operations more efficient and safer for employees — its warehouse safety practices have seen scrutiny from regulators and researchers.
Amazon said robotics sites in 2022 had recordable incident rates and lost-time incident rates that were 15% and 18% lower, respectively, compared to non-robotics sites.
"Mobile robots like Titan work collaboratively with other robotics systems to create a safer and more ergonomic workplace that reduces repetitive motions, eliminates the need for employees to walk long distances or move heavy objects, and allows employees to focus on new tasks that require new skills," the company said.
Titan can ferry up to two times more weight than Amazon's widely deployed Hercules bot, which carries totes of items across fulfillment centers.
"We see many possibilities for how we can use Titan going forward, including with containerized storage solutions like Sequoia, where it could transport inventory across our storage floor and bring it directly to employees," Amazon said.
More than 750,000 robots have been deployed in Amazon's fulfillment centers globally. The company recently announced it would test a two-legged robot named Digit to help pick up and move empty totes in warehouses.
