Amazon shuts down Blue Jay robot project after less than a year

Last October, Amazon: announced Blue Jaynew robotic arm system to act as “extra hands” for its warehouse workers. This week, Amazon decided it no longer needed Blue Jay.

He reported the news first Business Insider: and then approved TechCrunch. Blue Jay was intended to be a multi-wing assistance system for same-day delivery facilities and was being tested in South Carolina at the time of its announcement last fall. However, after six months, Amazon shuts down the Blue Jay project and moves its core technologies and employees to other projects.

Look, go.
Credit: Amazon

While it wasn’t exactly clear when the Blue Jay was first announced, an Amazon spokesperson told TechCrunch that it was always intended to be a prototype.

“We’re always testing new ways to improve the customer experience and make work safer, more efficient and more engaging for our employees,” a spokesperson told TechCrunch. “In this case, we are actually accelerating the adoption of the underlying technology developed for Blue Jay, and almost all of the technology is being transferred and will continue to support our network employees.”

Blue Jay wasn’t the only one warehouse robotics initiative Amazon has its own belt, and it won’t be the last. But whatever, this one just didn’t go as planned.