Amazon challenge tests #robots stow & pick skills, soon to replace humans in #warehouse | WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation | Scoop.it

Picking stuff up and putting it away sounds like child's play, but to online retailer Amazon.com, it is a high-tech, high-stakes game. This year, contestants competed in timed stowing and picking operations -- simple enough for humans yet nearly impossible for robots to perform reliably. For stowing, each robot was rated on how efficiently it could pick up items and put them on a shelf. In the picking phase, the robots had to put specified items into the proper boxes. The top eight advanced to the final round.