Amazon Unveils Proteus Robot for Europe Fulfillment Centers

London, Jun 4 (PTI) Amazon on Thursday introduced next-generation Proteus robot at its fulfilment centres in Europe that will assist employees by taking on physically strenuous tasks at the global e-commerce giant's fulfilment centres.

Amazon's Proteus uses natural language commands to take on more tasks across its operations and is part of the company's plan to invest over 10 billion euro in European fulfilment centres and grow the workforce by 25,000 over the coming years.

"The new Proteus and additional robotics expansions in Europe are designed to support employees by taking on physically strenuous tasks," Amazon said while introducing the next-generation Proteus at its Delivering the Future event in London on Thursday.

The new technology builds on the original autonomous robot and expands what's


possible in scope, capability, and how it can assist employees with their daily tasks.

Amazon employees at Europe fulfilment centres will now be able to direct Proteus in the same way they'd communicate with a colleague -- using plain, conversational language, with no technical commands and no programming interface.

An employee tells it what needs to be done, and the robot takes care of the rest, Amazon said, adding that Proteus is designed to take on physically demanding tasks such as moving heavy carts and covering long distances, so employees can focus on higher-skilled work like managing inventory flow and ensuring quality control.

These new technologies are part of Amazon's plans to invest over 10 billion euro over the next few years to expand and modernise its fulfilment operations in Europe. This also includes the expansion of Vulcan -- Amazon's first robot with a sense of touch.

As part of this investment, Amazon plans to grow its European fulfilment centre workforce by 25,000 in the coming years, creating new jobs across the region, Amazon added.