Amazon Introduces Vulcan, the Robot That “Feels” What It Touches | Festina Lente - Your leading source of AI news | Turtles AI

Amazon recently unveiled Vulcan, a tactile warehouse robot designed to improve efficiency and safety in fulfillment centers.

Key Points:

• Vulcan can handle approximately 75% of items in Amazon warehouses.
• It uses force sensors and artificial intelligence to identify and handle delicate items.
• Already in operation in Spokane, USA and Hamburg, Germany, it has processed over 500,000 orders.
• Designed to work in collaboration with human workers, reducing physical effort.

In the logistics automation space, Amazon introduced Vulcan, an advanced robot capable of sensing physical contact with objects, thanks to force sensors integrated into its mechanical limbs. This ability allows Vulcan to handle items of various shapes and sizes with a delicacy previously unattainable for industrial robots. The system consists of an arm equipped with a spatula-like tool, used to rearrange items inside bins, and a second arm equipped with a suction cup and an AI camera to identify and pick items.

Vulcan has been trained on real-world physical data, including force and touch feedback, allowing it to learn and improve its performance over time. Currently operating in distribution centers in Spokane, Washington, and Hamburg, Germany, the robot has already handled more than half a million orders. Its implementation aims to reduce the physical strain on human workers by performing stacking and picking operations in hard-to-reach locations, such as the top and bottom rows of shelves.

Amazon emphasizes that Vulcan is not intended to replace human workers, but to collaborate with them, improving the safety and efficiency of warehouse operations. The company plans to expand Vulcan’s use to other distribution centers in the United States and Europe in the coming years, continuing to invest in technologies that support human labor rather than replace it.

With the introduction of Vulcan, Amazon is taking a significant step in integrating advanced robotics and AI into its logistics operations, moving toward a future where humans and machines work side by side to optimize processes and improve working conditions.