A new form of robot with a sense of touch which has been developed by Amazon could develop to be capable of doing household chores in the future, the man who led its development has suggested.
Vulcan robots, which are already in use at Amazon centres in Spokane in the US and Hamburg in Germany, were formally unveiled by the company this week at an event in Dortmund.
Using AI technology as well as a spatula-like gripping tool and sensors, they are able to stow away and pick up items and are capable of handling around three-quarters of the products Amazon sells, working at similar speeds to humans.
With eight-foot high ‘pods’ used to sort inventory in Amazon centres, the company says the new robots can help worker safety by picking items from the highest and lowest points of pods.
The technology is expected to be rolled out to UK distribution centres, including several in Yorkshire, over the next three years.
Aaron Parness, Amazon’s director of robotics AI, told the Dortmund event: “Vulcan was designed to handle a very thorny challenge in robotics, the task of moving through highly-cluttered environments where you make a lot of contact with items.
"It is built to work in the real world. We are at the start of a golden age for robotics.
"Safely handling items in a highly-cluttered environment has applications way beyond our fulfilment centres.”
When asked after his announcement by The Yorkshire Post about what the other applications could potentially be, Mr Parness said Amazon may be able to use the technology for packing multiple orders, putting delivery bags into delivery vans and handling groceries.
He said: "I absolutely believe the sense of touch, the use of video along with that touch and building out physical AI that can be intelligent and reason about what it feels and sees has hundreds of applications, a lot of them at Amazon.
"If you go beyond Amazon fulfilment, [you are] talking about retail spaces and healthcare spaces. Very long-term our homes are the most cluttered environment we regularly inhabit. You need touch and vision to do any of those kinds of tasks.
"That version that comes in 20 years will be standing on the shoulders of the advances we have made in the last few years.”
When asked what potential applications the robots could be used for in the home, Mr Parness said it is difficult to be definitive about future developments – citing the difference between the robot maid portrayed in the 1960s cartoon The Jetsons with the existence of robotic vacuum cleaners in the present day.
"It is really hard to speculate. In my personal opinion, robots we end up building don’t look like the things we might imagine.
"Your robot vacuum cleaner doesn’t look like Rosie [the robot from The Jetsons] pushing a vacuum, it looks like a hockey puck. As we think about robotics in the home, it is very difficult to say. I know they will have a sense of touch and sight but whether it is arms or something else, it is difficult to know."
Vulcan robots, which are already in use at Amazon centres in Spokane in the US and Hamburg in Germany, were formally unveiled by the company this week at an event in Dortmund.
Using AI technology as well as a spatula-like gripping tool and sensors, they are able to stow away and pick up items and are capable of handling around three-quarters of the products Amazon sells, working at similar speeds to humans.
With eight-foot high ‘pods’ used to sort inventory in Amazon centres, the company says the new robots can help worker safety by picking items from the highest and lowest points of pods.
The technology is expected to be rolled out to UK distribution centres, including several in Yorkshire, over the next three years.
Aaron Parness, Amazon’s director of robotics AI, told the Dortmund event: “Vulcan was designed to handle a very thorny challenge in robotics, the task of moving through highly-cluttered environments where you make a lot of contact with items.
"It is built to work in the real world. We are at the start of a golden age for robotics.
"Safely handling items in a highly-cluttered environment has applications way beyond our fulfilment centres.”
When asked after his announcement by The Yorkshire Post about what the other applications could potentially be, Mr Parness said Amazon may be able to use the technology for packing multiple orders, putting delivery bags into delivery vans and handling groceries.
He said: "I absolutely believe the sense of touch, the use of video along with that touch and building out physical AI that can be intelligent and reason about what it feels and sees has hundreds of applications, a lot of them at Amazon.
"If you go beyond Amazon fulfilment, [you are] talking about retail spaces and healthcare spaces. Very long-term our homes are the most cluttered environment we regularly inhabit. You need touch and vision to do any of those kinds of tasks.
"That version that comes in 20 years will be standing on the shoulders of the advances we have made in the last few years.”
When asked what potential applications the robots could be used for in the home, Mr Parness said it is difficult to be definitive about future developments – citing the difference between the robot maid portrayed in the 1960s cartoon The Jetsons with the existence of robotic vacuum cleaners in the present day.
"It is really hard to speculate. In my personal opinion, robots we end up building don’t look like the things we might imagine.
"Your robot vacuum cleaner doesn’t look like Rosie [the robot from The Jetsons] pushing a vacuum, it looks like a hockey puck. As we think about robotics in the home, it is very difficult to say. I know they will have a sense of touch and sight but whether it is arms or something else, it is difficult to know."
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