Amazon debuts its first-ever warehouse robot — 'Vulcan' — with a sense of touch

The latest Amazon robotic supply chain assistant takes a "touchy" approach to storing inventory in fulfillment centers.

The online giant has deployed its first robot equipped with a sense of touch, meaning it knows when it makes contact and how much force it’s applying, and can stop short of doing any damage. Built on advances in robotics, engineering and physical AI, the robot, called "Vulcan," is currently deployed at Amazon's distribution centers in Spokane, Wash., and Hamburg, Germany. 

"Vulcan represents a fundamental leap forward in robotics," said Aaron Parness, Amazon director, applied science, in a corporate blog post. "It's not just seeing the world, it's feeling it, enabling capabilities that were impossible for Amazon robots until now. Vulcan works alongside our employees, and the combination is better than either on their own."

How Vulcan works

Vulcan uses an "end of arm tooling" that resembles a ruler stuck onto a hair straightener, plus force feedback sensors that tell it how hard it’s pushing or how firmly it’s holding something, so it can stay below the point at which it risks doing damage.

Amazon fulfillment centers store inventory in fabric-covered pods that are divided into compartments about a foot square, each of which holds up to 10 items on average. Fitting an item into or plucking one out of this crowded space has historically been challenging for robots that lack the natural dexterity of humans.

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The ruler bit pushes around the items already in those compartments to make room for whatever it wants to add. The arms of the "hair straightener" (the paddles) hold the item to be added, adjusting their grip strength based on the item’s size and shape, then use built-in conveyor belts to send  the item into the bin.

For picking items from those bins, Vulcan uses an arm that carries a camera and a suction cup. The camera looks at the compartment and picks out the item to be grabbed, along with the best spot to hold it by. 

While the suction cup grabs it, the camera watches to make sure it took the right thing only. Amazon estimates Vulcan robots have the ability to pick and stow approximately 75% of all various types of items it stores in fulfillment centers, at speeds comparable to that of human workers.

Vulcan can also identify when it can’t move a specific item and can ask a human partner to step in. 

Developing Vulcan required the novel application of physical AI, including algorithms for identifying which items it can or can’t handle, finding space within bins, and identifying tubes of toothpaste and boxes of paper clips. 

Amazon trained Vulcan on physical data that incorporates touch and force feedback, including thousands of real-world examples such as moving fragile electronics and picking up socks, as well as computer simulations. Vulcan also learns from failures and will become more intelligent and capable over time.

The company plans to deploy Vulcan systems over the next couple of years at sites throughout Europe and the United States.