Amazon Touts Latest Robotics Advance for Fulfillment

Amazon pushed its robotics fulfillment capabilities in a Thursday blog post, announcing Sparrow, a robotic system that can detect, select and handle individual products in inventory. Sparrow uses computer vision and AI to recognize and handle “millions of items.” Last year, Amazon employees picked, stowed or packed about 5 billion packages; robotics helps the e-commerce company “work smarter, not harder, to operate efficiently and safely,” it said. Sparrow will take on repetitive tasks, enabling employees to focus on other tasks, Amazon said. The company referenced the Amazon Mechatronic and Robotic Apprenticeship, a 12-week classroom program with 2,000 hours of on-the-job training to help employees learn new skills and pursue technical maintenance roles.