Amazon unveiled a new artificial intelligence tool designed to solve a significant pain point in its quick delivery apparatus: drivers rummaging through cluttered vans at each stop searching for packages. The company’s new “vision-assisted package retrieval” system uses cameras and automotive light projectors to shine a green circle on packages that are to be delivered at each stop and red Xs on those that will be delivered later, Amazon said Wednesday at a Nashville media event focused on its logistics and online shopping initiatives. The Seattle-based company is deploying 1,000 electric vans with the technology by early 2025, and pilot tests showed a 67% reduction in perceived physical and mental effort for drivers and 30 minutes saved per route, it added in a news release.
Amazon said the system uses computer vision software adapted from warehouse robotics systems and can recognize package types under different lighting conditions. The tech also automatically recognizes the customer’s address and the name of the person on the order to ensure the order is going to the right place. Amazon will use the same technology to help drivers locate merchandise at its fulfillment centers and in the back of trucks, which can have thousands of items in them.
To deploy the system, an Amazon contractor installs it in a van’s cargo bay. A camera then scans the area to recognize each box and its labels, which can be challenging to read in the vehicle’s cramped space under variable lighting. The package locations are then programmed into the vehicle’s navigation software. When the vehicle arrives at a stop, the driver can look for the green light to see which packages are theirs and then grab them. The system can also pause the vehicle’s engine so the driver can get out and manually search for packages not found in the automated scan.
Amazon says the new system helps reduce the number of mistakes made by its delivery service partners and contractors and improves the fleet’s overall efficiency. The company expects to deliver 20 million packages each day globally using the system.
The company’s latest innovations are part of a broader push to bring more automation to its logistics operations. In addition to the vision-assisted package system, it tests autonomous vehicles that humans can drive on a predetermined route. It is also experimenting with a system that automatically sorts and scans boxes as they enter its facilities.
The new artificial intelligence software is another sign of Amazon’s growing ambitions in the retail industry. The company is seeking to make the online purchasing experience as fast and seamless as possible, even for product types that haven’t been sold very much before, such as pet supplies or televisions. It has introduced AI-powered recommendations on the site and a search function called Rufus that gives users longer answers to their questions.
