Amazon unveils “Vulcan” robot with human-like touch

• Vulcan is a next-generation robot equipped with AI-powered vision and tactile feedback, allowing it to handle 75 percent of Amazon’s inventory – from fragile vitamins to bulky electronics – with human-like dexterity.
• Using a unique gripping mechanism (a ruler-like “hand” with paddles and conveyor belts), Vulcan adjusts its grip in real time. Its AI improves with each interaction, deferring only the most complex tasks to humans.
• The robot eliminates hazardous tasks like reaching high shelves (up to 8 feet) or crouching, reducing workplace injuries – a major issue for Amazon. It operates 20 hours a day at human speed while working behind safety barriers.
• Amazon insists Vulcan is designed to assist employees, not replace them. It handles top-row storage, keeping human workers in the safer “power zone” (mid-height shelves).
• Amazon plans to scale Vulcan across its network to boost efficiency and safety. Experts like Gartner’s Bill Ray agree that full automation is impractical – humans will remain essential for handling exceptions and system failures.

Amazon has introduced a groundbreaking new robot named Vulcan, equipped with an advanced sense of touch that allows it to handle approximately 75 percent of the items in its vast warehouses.

Vulcan, a robotic system equipped with a sense of touch, can gauge pressure, size and density when picking up and moving items – ranging from delicate vitamins to bulky electronics – without causing damage. Unlike traditional robots that rely solely on vision, Vulcan, which combines AI-powered vision and tactile feedback to adjust its grip in real time, is designed to handle millions of products with human-like dexterity while making jobs safer and more efficient for employees.

Its “hand” resembles a ruler attached to a hair straightener, using paddles to adjust grip and conveyor belts to place items. A camera and suction cup allow it to identify and pick products, even in tight spaces. Its AI system learns from each interaction, improving its efficiency over time. If it encounters an item it can’t handle, it requests human assistance, ensuring smooth operations. Currently, it can handle 75 percent of Amazon’s inventory, deferring only the most complex tasks to human workers.

One of its key roles is reducing physically demanding tasks, such as reaching high shelves or crouching for low bins. In Spokane, Washington and Hamburg, Germany, it already handles top-row storage pods (8 feet high), eliminating the need for step ladders – a common ergonomic hazard.

Vulcan operates 20 hours a day, matching human speed while handling items up to 8 pounds. It works behind safety barriers to prevent accidents but is expected to reduce workplace injuries, a persistent challenge for Amazon. (Related: Amazon to begin testing Digit – a six-foot-tall humanoid robot that might end up REPLACING human warehouse workers.)

Amazon insists Vulcan is designed to assist employees, not replace them

Aaron Parness, the director of Amazon Robotics, insists that Vulcan is designed to augment, not replace, its workforce.

“I don’t believe in 100 percent automation,” he said. “If we had to get Vulcan to do 100 percent of the stows and picks, it would never happen. You would wait your entire life. Amazon understands this.”

Parness then explained that Vulcan is designed to take over all stowing tasks for the top rows of bins, which are difficult for workers to access. By restricting employees to stowing items on mid-height shelves, referred to as the “power zone,” the system aims to reduce the risk of workplace injuries.

Amazon has faced persistent challenges with injury rates that are significantly higher than those at other warehouses. “Our vision is to scale this technology across our network, enhancing operational efficiency, improving workplace safety and supporting our employees by reducing physically demanding tasks,” Parness said.

Bill Ray, a researcher at Gartner, agreed with Parness. “Whereas if you build a terribly complicated automated system and it breaks, then everything stops,” said Ray. “Taking out the last human is so expensive. It’s so disruptive. It would be a huge investment and an enormous risk.”

Read more about the future of AI in Robots.news.

Watch the video below to learn more about the human-like and humanoid robots that China is creating.

This video is from the Puretrauma357 channel on Brighteon.com.

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Sources include:

LiveScience.com

AboutAmazon.co.uk

CNBC.com

Brighteon.com