Amazon on Wednesday unveiled a new robotic system that's capable of performing multiple tasks at once in the company's warehouses.
The system, called Blue Jay, is made up of a series of robotic arms that are suspended from a conveyor belt-like track. Those arms are tipped with suction-cup devices that allow them to grab items of varying shapes and sizes.
Blue Jay combines "what used to be three separate robotic stations into one streamlined workplace that can pick, sort, and consolidate in a single place," Amazon said in a blog.
The robotic system's goal is to assist employees with otherwise strenuous tasks "while creating greater efficiency in less physical space," the company said.
Amazon is testing Blue Jay at one of its warehouses in South Carolina. So far, the company has observed that the system is able to pick, pack, stow and consolidate "approximately 75% of items we store at our sites."
Blue Jay joins a growing fleet of robotic machinery being deployed across Amazon's legions of warehouses. Over the past several years, Amazon has debuted robots capable of handling different tasks, ranging from removing items from shelves to sorting boxes. In May, it debuted "Vulcan," a robotic system that has a sense of touch.
Amazon's warehouse automation efforts were largely jumpstarted by its $775 million acquisition of Kiva Systems in 2012.