So about a decade ago, Amazon developed this Hercules robot for lifting package stacks. It could lift 750 pounds.
Last year that evolved into these Titan ‘bots, which can lift 2,500 pounds.
They zoom around the warehouse, sliding under package stacks and transporting them like this:
An even cooler robot is their Pegasus, which has a conveyor belt on the top that can rotate 90 degrees.
When I first saw the shots of the Pegasus ‘bot, I assumed they worked by lining up and making mobile conveyor belts to span distances, which would be cool. But that’s not how they actually work; they operate individually, ferrying packages over to chutes, then using their conveyors to launch the packages.
This video (a huge PR win for Amazon, as this woman clearly loves her job) shows how the Pegasi fit into the workflow:
And if you’re interested, this video runs down Amazon’s full (non-humanoid) robot lineup:
