Amazon To Deploy AI-Powered Package Identifying Tech On 1000 Rivian Delivery Vans For Faster Deliveries

Amazon.com AMZN will deploy 1000 of its Rivian-manufactured RIVN electric delivery vans with a new AI-powered solution to help its delivery assistants spot the right package and save time per delivery, the online shopping giant said on Wednesday.

What Happened: Amazon has named the solution Vision-Assisted Package Retrieval or VAPR. With VAPR, delivery drivers will not have to check manually to ensure that they have the right package; they can simply look for VAPR’s green light, the company said.

On arriving at a delivery location, VAPR will project a green “O” on all the packages to be delivered at the spot and a red “X” on the remaining packages. The system will inform the driver that it has found the right packages with audio-visual cues and the driver can simply grab the green-lighted parcels from the cargo area instead of manually verifying whether they have the right package, Amazon said.

VAPR uses a form of computer vision called Amazon Robotics Identification (AR-ID) which replaces the need for manual barcode scanning. AR-ID was originally devised for fulfillment centers to help automatically identify items while stowing inventory. It locates and deciphers multiple barcodes in real-time and is optimized for an in-van environment, Amazon said.

Rivian-Amazon Partnership: VAPR will be deployed on 1000 Rivian-made electric delivery vans by early 2025, the online retailer said.

Amazon has committed to purchasing 100,000 delivery vans from the EV startup by 2030. In July, Amazon said that it already has over 15,000 Rivian vans deployed across the U.S. which have delivered over 800 million packages.

However, earlier this month, Rivian cut its annual production forecast by as much as 18% to between 47,000 and 49,000 electric vehicles citing production disruption owing to a component shortage.

The component, it said, is used in both the company's R1 vehicles and its commercial vans.

"This supply shortage impact began in Q3 of this year, has become more acute in recent weeks and continues," the company said, without giving more details.

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Photo courtesy: Amazon