Amazon patents human cage in robot environments

We have come to the day when we already have so many robots in one place to the point that we have to wear protection to walk quietly in these environments without the risk of injury. Imagine being caged to keep machines from touching you? This is more or less what an Amazon patent indicates, caught in the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Registered in 2016, the project was found by The Seattle Times and closely resembles those structures used by divers as they travel through a region full of sharks. But instead of the sea, think of a warehouse of the giant retailer; and exchange the swimmers for stock workers.

The concept is described as "An extraordinary illustration of the alienation of the worker, an austere moment in the relationship between humans and machines." Since some of the units at Amazon have machines of over 300 kilograms, this would be a way for workers to be able to live with their machines safely.

Amazon says the cage "has never been and will never be used"

The company already has security systems that automatically shut down robots when an employee crosses certain areas. However, this cage could serve to continue operations while a minor repair could be made. Incidentally, the company itself has other ideas that combine humans and mechanized parts to help with similar tasks.

Amazon said it never used and will not use the project. “Even bad ideas are sometimes patented. This has never been used and we have no plans for use. We have developed a much better solution, a small vest worn by employees that makes all nearby robotic drives stop moving, ”said senior vice president of operations Dave Clark via Twitter.

Sometimes even bad ideas get submitted for patents. This was never used and we have no plans for usage. We developed a far better solution which is a small vest associates can wear that cause all robotic drive units in their proximity to stop moving.

- Dave Clark (@davehclark) September 8, 2018

Still, the patent is nonetheless curious and it makes it very clear that with each passing year the industry is concerned with more ways to protect humans from robots.

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Amazon patents human cage in robot environments via TecMundo