Amazon has improved its repertoire of machines and robots with Vulcan, which is endowed with a sense of touch and is already operating in its logistics centres. The innovative robot allows it to search through the shelves and to find products to optimise work.

The giant of e-commerce has developed this robot model based on advances in robotics, engineering, and physical artificial intelligence (AI), which have allowed Vulcan to be the first robot with a sense of touch from Amazon, according to what the company has detailed in a statement.

“Vulcan represents a fundamental leap forward in robotics,” says the Director of Applied Sciences at Amazon, Aaron Parness, who also states that “it is not just seeing the world, it is feeling it, enabling capabilities that were impossible for Amazon robots until now.”

Specifically, the company has pointed out that it is already changing how work is done in its logistics centres because Vulcan is helping transport orders more efficiently.

Vulcan is just one piece of Amazon’s growing portfolio of advanced technology projects. Beyond robotics, the company is making waves in the AI space with the launch of its multimodal Nova models, designed to rival OpenAI with capabilities across text, image, audio, and video processing. At the same time, Amazon is expanding its ambitions into space with Project Kuiper, a satellite internet initiative aiming to challenge Starlink by delivering high-speed connectivity to underserved regions.

Vulcan joins Amazon’s robot team

Amazon points out that it is not its first robot that can lift objects since its systems Sparrow, Cardinal, and Robin use artificial vision and suction cups to move individual products or packages packed by workers, while Proteus, Titan, and Hercules lift and transport carts of merchandise in its distribution centres. In total, Amazon utilises over 750,000 robots.

However, the novelty it incorporates is that Vulcan can easily manipulate objects and is capable of recognising packages by touch and moving them from one shelf to another, as well as removing them to be shipped.

The robot uses an arm that, according to Amazon, resembles “a ruler attached to a hair straightener” that has force sensors that help it know when it makes contact with an object and how much force and speed to use to avoid causing damage.

The typical robot is “numb and dumb,” Parness remarks that robots, especially those that work in commercial settings, are not particularly smart.

“In the past, when industrial robots have unexpected contact, they either emergency stop or smash through that contact. They often don’t even know they have hit something because they cannot sense it,” he explains.

Additional functionalities: suction cup and AI camera

Likewise, a second arm includes a suction cup to grab anything it wants to take out of the compartments, with a camera with artificial intelligence to ensure that it has not picked up multiple items by mistake.

Vulcan is already operational in a logistics centre in Hamburg, Germany, and Amazon has reported that it is also functioning in Spokane, Washington (United States). For the moment, the company has not revealed if it will sell the robot to the public, so its activity will be restricted to Amazon’s logistics centres.